Island Dog

Join Date 06/2003

+1048

Why Do You Need Multiplicity?

Multiplicity is one of the most useful and productive apps around today, and I like to share stories on how users can use MP to get more work done, and easier. To answer the question simply, it is because Multiplicity can make your work easier by eliminating the desktop clutter of multiple hardware, and by using the power of multiple PC’s with just one mouse/keyboard combination.

I was recently speaking with a guy who had a cool setup of three 24” widescreen monitors, each hooked up to their own PC. Of course the mess comes in because there are also three sets of keyboards and mice on the desktop making much clutter on what otherwise would be a clean, functional desktop. After showing a quick demo of Multiplicity they were sold, and the clutter on the desktop was eliminated and now they manage their media creation across three PC’s with just one mouse and keyboard.

If you have multiple-PC’s on your desktop, then I suggest giving Multiplicity a try, I’m confident you won’t be disappointed.

For a free trial and more information, visit www.multiplicity.net.

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another success story...

my mother-in-law had two complete systems on her desk and was constantly switching mice and keyboards. multiplicity fit her situation perfectly. stardock has been helpful working through technical bumps and now she can easily switch between pc's by simply moving the mouse.

i chose stardock's product for her basically on knowing this community, the support provided by stardock, and the quality of work the devs put into the work. combining these factors plus the fact that the program does exactly what it needs to do, has made every penny spent worthwhile.

good work stardock!

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I've got the demo going now, and I like it, but still not sure what to do with it. The main issue being price, $50? The thing costs more than Sins Trinity does, for something that has shareware equivalents that really aren't all that inferior, if at all.

It's not even that I'm short on cash, but the principle of it irritates me, most notably the different versions. 30$ is already pushing it for this kind of software, but another 20$ if I want more than 1 secondary? And to transfer files? Swapping files on networked systems isn't that hard to begin with, charging a premium to make it a tad more convienent is a joke.

Anyways, I like the program, and if it were $30 for an all inclusive program, I'd get it. Hell, I might even consider more, purely out of support for the developers making a quality program that does exactly what it's supposed to, but withholding key features for some price hiking scheme is the type of thing I reject on principle alone.

Maybe next time a good sale comes around.

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awuffleablehedgie

Join Date 04/2009

+60

I might even consider more, purely out of support for the developers making a quality program that does exactly what it's supposed to, but withholding key features for some price hiking scheme is the type of thing I reject on principle alone.

Really, exactly that for me. I've looked at the software before and while it looks neat and professional the price-jacking really bothers me. $20 to save me a little bit of trouble doing file-transfering? :-/ And a little bit of future-proofing when/if I ever get a third PC (probably a media center).

I'm also confused exactly what are the advantages of Multiplicity above Synergy. I'm really quite curious actually ... Looking at the product info page, there doesn't seem to be a difference between the $30 version and Synergy, correct me if I'm wrong. If I could get that question answered and if it seemed reasonable enough, I'd be far more likely to purchase the software, if only to support the developers.

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All it comes down to is what are you are willing to pay for convenience, personally I would pay; yes you can do what Multiplicity does without the software, but honestly Multiplicity makes it really convenient.

And why Multiplicity? Well it's a well supported producted provided by a vendor I trust on a digital delivery platform I already use, again convenience and trust in a vendor I have used before.

As for the price the same things can be said of many products, why pay $100s for operating systems, or photo editing software when free versions that do nearly as well are already out there...

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For me, it doesn't come down to what I'm willing to pay for. Sure, I don't like the price, but it wouldn't stop me from buying it if I wanted it. What does stop me is an unwillingness to support the arbitrary price hiking between editions.

When I see a program available, then see that I have to pay more in order to get 2 of the features, features that strike me as practically nothing in terms of additional development work required over the basic edition, I find it insulting.

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awuffleablehedgie

Join Date 04/2009

+60

Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It's intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitor(s).

Redirecting the mouse and keyboard is as simple as moving the mouse off the edge of your screen. Synergy also merges the clipboards of all the systems into one, allowing cut-and-paste between systems. Furthermore, it synchronizes screen savers so they all start and stop together and, if screen locking is enabled, only one screen requires a password to unlock them all. Learn more about how it works.

Please note, I'm not attempting to hijack this thread to promote Synergy over Multiplicity. I'm giving Stardock a chance to give a definite reason why I need to spend money to purchase Multiplicity and what advantages it offers over Synergy.

I've used Synergy before and while it is ugly, it isn't particularily difficult to install or configure. It's pretty much "I Agree, Next, Next, This computer is my Primary, this one over here is my secondary". Done. So that's not particularily inconvient and it's roughly (from what I can tell) the same as how Multiplicity work, though instead it's more like "Select from Impulse, Download, This computer is my Primary..."

I mean, it doesn't have to be fantastic reasons... maybe Multiplicity has a smaller performance requirement. Maybe Multiplicity has a richer feature set (which is really what I'm looking for and I can't see anything other than ponying up $50 for the network drag and drop). Maybe Multiplicity has a much more rapid update cycle and is continously pushing out small improvements.

If fact, I am asking the question posed in the title:

WHY do I need Multiplicity... over Synergy?

I just need a salesman to tell me why Multiplicity is the best thing since sliced bread and how I should buy a third computer just so I can have Multiplicity on three computers because it is THAT AWESOME. I don't want a static webpage that basically has the quoted paragraph typed up again with different language.

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If fact, I am asking the question posed in the title:

WHY do I need Multiplicity... over Synergy?

To be honest, if synergy is working for you, you probably don't.

I've used both, and I like Multiplicity more than Synergy, and it has several good features (and some that don't really matter to me, and the one really good one that you have to update to Pro for). It has better polish than Synergy, and given that Synergy hasn't been updated in about 4 years, better support, especially for newer systems, as well. Synergy also has the odd bit of buggy behavior for me, and I've poked around in the sources for it, but haven't pinned it down yet.

That said, I don't use Multiplicity anymore. I'm still disappointed that Stardock has apparently decided not to try and support Mac / Linux functionality, though they originally indicated that they planned to do so.

If the only systems that you have are Windows systems, I would choose Multiplicity over synergy for the things that it has that Synergy doesn't. If, like me, you have multiple different systems (like my Win / Win / Linux / Linux / Solaris montage), Multiplicity really isn't a good fit (Synergy doesn't do all that well with Solaris for me, also, even though it's 'supported'). As a result, I don't use either (just a ton of xsessions for now).

If Multiplicity would get Linux support, I'd buy it again in a heartbeat, but in its current state, it's not the right tool for the job.

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as for costs, i beleive i have seen the Pro version on sale for a considerable discount in the past. Whenever rolls around again, its definately a nice grab.

stardock support is all over this product too. they watch the forums and answer direct questions quickly. to many people, especially those that are less technical, it is worth the $20 higher cost. using impusle is another perk. clean install, easy setup, intuitive and clean interface. these are all things a polished software package should have, and multiplicity has got it.

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c242

Join Date 03/2001

+383

If You look closely at Your registered products, there still is a standalone installer for Multiplicity Pro. Just for the record. Which makes perfect sense for such a product.

I couldn't live without it given the fact that I have 3 machines on my desk, 2 of them Laptops on special stands. No need to fiddle with the touchpads or connect an extra mouse, I just can use my workstation mouse and keyboard.

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