Synergy

Remote control utilities can spare you from running around between different computers, but if you have to work constantly with two or more machines, you can make everything much easier with Synergy. The application gives you the possibility of controlling multiple computers with a single mouse and a single keyboard. It doesn't display remote desktops on your screen, but it is capable of establishing multiple connections instantly. The purpose of this application is to let you work on multiple computers as if you were working on a single machine with multiple monitors.

Setting up a connection between different computers is a straightforward operation, due to Synergy's straightforward functionality. All you have to do is install the application as a server on your main computer and as a client on other computers. You can switch the application between server and client modes at any time, with a single click, on its user interface.

Once the application is up and running on all computers and properly configured, you can take control over your secondary computers, by simply moving the mouse cursor beyond the screen's edges. The cursor will instantly appear on the screen of one of these computers and you may use it to run applications, browse through menus and perform any action you can think of. The keyboard will be shared as well, so you can also type or use hotkeys on the remote computer. What's more, you may copy contents from one computer to another, through the clipboard or by clicking and dragging. The best part is that Synergy is cross platform and that it allows you to share your mouse and keyboard between different operating systems, like Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and even Android or iOS.

Understanding Synergy's functionality is very easy. Basically, you have to associate an edge or a corner of the screen with another computer. This can be done by simply dragging monitor icons and dropping them in a grid, around a representation of your main computer. Double clicking one of these icons will bring up a properties window, on which you have to specify a remote computer's name and make a few tweaks if you need to. The application allows you to save and load your configurations, so you don't have to make the same settings more than once.