I've used a lot of really good (and some not so good) pieces of software over the years, but there are a few that really stand out for me. Among them is Edgerunner's Multiplicity - specifically the Multiplicity Pro KVM version. With that being said, a little bit about the software and why I like it so much.
I've had multiple PC's on my desk at home for probably 15+ years by now. Originally it was simply two PC's with two KB's, two mice, two monitors, and two sets of speakers. Initially I went with a hardware KVM solution and that worked well enough, but eventually I upgraded my hardware and my existing KVM hardware would no longer work (it used PS/2 connectors for KB/Mouse and VGA for the video). At that time I found Multiplicity from Stardock Software. I was familiar with Stardock from their OS/2 days and had used their Object Desktop for Windows at one point, although I no longer did/do. While Multiplicity wouldn't remove the need to have a monitor for each PC, it would allow me to have one KB/Mouse. Basically you configure the setup with your monitor layout and when the mouse moves off of one monitor to another it switches control to that PC. I'm probably not doing a very good job describing how it works, the website linked about has a better explanation, but suffice it to say it quickly became a "must have" application for me and I purchased it after only a couple of hours of evaluating it.
Over time I ended up with a second monitor for one of the PC's and added Ultramon (which I'll review another time) to the mix and Multiplicity continued to work wonderfully. At some point - I believe 2.x they added support for audio sharing which was greatly appreciated as I was able to go to a single set of speakers and have the audio from whatever PC I was working with routed to a single set of speakers. At some point I upgraded to the "Pro" version as it had a couple of features that the regular version didn't have. I seem to recall that one of them was clipboard sharing. Now the features I'm describing, including the clipboard sharing can be done with other software - and probably free software at that, but I've always thought highly of Stardock and Multiplicity worked well for me so I've never given a thought to switching away from it.
With the release of v3.x, a new company is handling it - Edgerunner - I'm not entirely sure of their relationship with Stardock, but for me it's been a seamless transition. I recently upgraded to v3 and chose to go to the "KVM PRO version". I still use the traditional methods for the three PC's (and 5 monitors) on my desktop, but I can also KVM into other PC's such as my J or P's computers. It's not a true KVM in that I can't access BIOS for example - it's more like "Remote Desktop" melded with say VNC since I can control their PC's with a couple of clicks, but it doesn't kick them off like RDP will normally do. I also just love the option to darken the screens of my PC's that I'm not currently controlling. I'm used to the three PC's and five monitors so I don't tend to have issues, but if I have to have my wife get on my setup for something for example it makes it each for her to see what PC she's on without having to hunt for the mouse for example.
I'm not sure that my little review here has done justice to the product, but I cannot say enough great things about it and strongly recommend anyone who has multiple PC's to deal with to take a look at the product. And not that I've ever needed actual support, but when I have had an occasional question such as if I could use the newest version as I always have, but still use the KVM mode as needed, I've always gotten quick responses and always accurate and clear responses and that's not something I can say about all software companies. I would easily rank Multiplicity as one of the 5 apps I simply cannot live without.
- M
Edit: Corrected the version that I currently use - it's Multiplicity v3 KVM PRO.
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