Mouse Without Borders

Pros

* Free yet from a very reputable company (Microsoft)
* Easy to install
* Secure
* Very helpful when it works; easily move from computer to computer without switching between keyboards and mice
* No hardware needed
* Easy "drag and drop" data transfer between computers
- I used a lot graphics and PowerPoint

Cons

* Unpredictable and unreliable
- Mouse moves erratically on second computer
+ Cursor may move a lot when I move the mouse only a little
* Cursor moves in very unpredictable ways, often moving when or in a way I did not dictacte
- Fine tuned detail work is often impossible
- Keyboard did not always transfer over though mouse did

Summary

First, we need to define terms and define what Mouse without Borders is. It's a virtual KVM. A KVM is a "keyboard, video, mouse." Meaning, it is a switch that allows two or more computers to share a single keyboard, mouse, and video output. Why would you need one? Imagine that you are working with a desktop computer, a laptop, and a tablet that accepts keyboard and mouse inputs. You are also want to use your desktop's screen as your laptop's second screen. You now have three sets of mice and three keyboards which you are constantly switching between. You're frustrated because you don't know which computer is attached to which keyboard and which mouse. You are also constantly pressing buttons on your computer monitor. Or, you are constantly unplugging and replugging in your one keyboard, mouse and computer monitor. What do you do? A KVM consolidates all of this into one switch box. Just press a button on the box or press a key combination on your keyboard and bang! Everything switches over.

Now, eliminate the cable clutter and what do you have? Mouse Without Borders, a virtual KVM. It uses only a network connection.

--Pros--

So, is it good? The fact that it's free yet from Microsoft, a very reputable company, is very good. I'd argue it's best selling point.

When it works, it's very helpful. I can use one keyboard and one mouse on two to four computers without any hardware beyond my already existing network. Because it's software, there are no cables, no boxes, no buttons and no format compatibility problems. I don't have to bother with the fact that Computer 1's output is analog and computer 2's is digital. I had a physical KVM a couple years ago. The only two reasons I don't use it now are (a) my Win7 tablet has digital output, my desktop has both digital and analog, and, at the time, my monitor had analog (I think). It's an analog kvm and my Win7 tablet only has a mini HDMI (pure digital) output. That's a problem, especially since dual digital and analog boxes are expensive. (B) It's a lot of extra cables and an extra box I never quite figured out how to manage.

I really like the baked in "drag and drop" feature. I can literally drag graphics and even entire complex PowerPoint presentations from one computer to another. It's that easy. In fact, a folder pops up called "Mouse without Borders" whenever I drag a file over. That folder's only purpose is to hold files I drag over so that it's easy to find those files.

--Cons--
As best I can tell no one has really figured out how to make this technology reliable. Mouse without Borders is unpredictable. My mouse behaves erratically. It is twitchy, moving more than I asked it to or moving all over the place when I did not tell it to move at all. Also, the keyboard did not always switch over even when the mouse did. Therefore, I would type "crtl + c" (copy) to copy something on my tablet only to copy something on my desktop.

--Conclusion--
Mouse without Borders is Ok at best. It is not great, it is not terrible. It is too unreliable to be counted on for detailed work. Therefore, it is a fun toy to play with. It helps that it's free yet from a reliable company. I would not have paid money for it.

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