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.
Pros
Stable
Two way sharing
Easy setup
Cons
No synchronized lock screen
Summary
MWB is much better than Input Director. ID used to drop my connection all the time and copy/paste was never reliable. MWB is rock solid - connects immediately and never drops the connection, and copy/paste hasn't failed on me yet. Two-way sharing is a plus (in ID computers are set up as master/slave, not in MWB).
Pros
You can easily share your mouse and keyboard between four computers on your desk.
Cons
No cons!!!!!!!!!!!
Pros
Installed without issue on XP, Vista & 7.
Simple interface, easy to use.
Cons
For a program called "Mouse without borders", there is one major border that basically guts this program's potential:
Local LAN use only
I have 2 internet connections at my house; one for personal use, one for work, which means six monitors on two LANs. This program does not resolve across the two connections, thus losing any value for me.
I experienced a huge amount of mouse lag between the PCs (both Win 7) on the same GigE network. I get a better response time with Windows RD...
Summary
Here's what needs to be in place to make this better:
Connect to PCs that are not local (whether on a different local lan, VPN connection or different internet connection.)
Improve response time dramatically. There's not really any valid reason for delay on a GigE network for this type of application.
Pros
Works like magic when it works. Supper nice for getting screenshots from one computer to another and just generally being able to have only one keyboard and mouse on my desk.
Cons
It was working just fine and then for no apparent reason it just stopped working and said it can't write to the transport......
Summary
I really really like this program and the features but it would be great if there was some troubleshooting help. I am dead in the water but really want to get this thing working.
Read reply (1)
Reply by bcompian on September 15, 2011
I seemed to have fixed my issues with the mouse without borders. It has to do with a networking issue and not the program. As soon as I fixed my network issue the program has worked great. If I could figure out how to change my star rating I would easily give it four stars. My only suggestion to the developers is to have it auto retry when it gets disconnected but it is good enough as is to be very useful. It is really easy to get it connected again with a hot key shortcut. Awesome and it is free.
Pros
Quick set up & connection with other computers on my network. I am yet to try out the features, but have been able to sync 3 of the 4 computers on my network- the 4th is off.
Cons
No major cons. except that connecting the computers to the host is a bit tricky. The trick lies in ensuring that the computer name you enter in the 2nd & subsequent Pcs. are exactly as contained in your network set up.
Summary
Over all, I think this is a great program. While the security code generated is bound to work, the computer name generated may not be as you have it on your network.
This may explain the problems encounter by1st reviewer above. For e.g. Mine is "Delldimension", but the program read it (gramatically correct) as "Dell Dimension". When I entered the latter I ran into the same problem as the 1st reviewer. It was then I decided to check to make sure the name matched what I have on my network. Once I correct the automatically generated name for my computer, it worked flawlessly.
I will update once I have had a chance to fully try it.
Pros
Looks like exactly what I need in the demo video
Cons
My work Windows XP PC has to be the primary computer and my Laptop is the secondary. When I try to connect the two, I get an error message saying "No such host can be found". The PC is hard wired and the laptop is wireless on the same netowrk.
Summary
if anyone has a solution, please share. All of my network sharings are turned on. PC name and generated password are correct.
Read reply (1)
Reply by Jianchun on December 15, 2011
seems you might have to put that into your host file with the ip and the computer name
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