Frogboy

Join Date 03/2001

+2419

IT ChannelVision: Multiplicity wows 'em

Seeing is believing

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This week Multiplicity was one of the stars of Gartner's IT ChannelVision. The program (found at www.multiplicity.net) allows users to take multiple local computers and use them together. In essence, a user sets their main machine (with its keyboard and mouse) to be the primary machine and other machines, with only monitors connected to them, become secondary. When the user moves their mouse cursor over to the monitor connected to another computer, the user is then controlling that machine.

Multiplicity creates a universal clipboard between all the machines and the Pro version even allows for copying/pasting files and folders between the machines.

On demo in particular impressed attendees. In a live demonstration, a tablet PC was loaded up with Multiplicity and connected to a laptop via an Ethernet cable. The user was then able to control the tablet (which had no keyboard or mouse) via the laptop's keyboard and touchpad. Several tablet PC users declared Multiplicity a must-have for any tablet PC user.

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Excellent! I dont have the program, but I can sure see how it could be needed.

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ZubaZ

Join Date 11/2001

+917

I've been saying great things about TabletPCs and MP since it came out . . .unfortanatlly, I only know two other TabletPC users.

I saw an article the other day about Stewart Title using Tablets (I think) for their new "eClosingRoom" and wondered if Stardock was looking at clients like that. Link to article: Link

It's a great application, glad you got some good press.

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I still wonder why I could have lived without it before.

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Been using the Pro version for a couple of weeks now and it's magic (I'm a software support techie).

Like C242 I don't know how I did without it.

I've taken Outlook off my main PC and have it running on a 2nd PC checking our company's support inbox, plus I run remote desktops on the 2nd PC too so I can monitor our server cluster - I have 3 monitors on my desk (my main PC has a Matrox dualhead graphics card) so I can now have 3 remote desktops going at once and I can see all 3 simultaneously - no minimise/maximise nonsense here!

And the copy and paste feature means I don't have to fight with Network Neighbourhood half as much as I used to.

Magic, Smagic!

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no real benefits that I can see that using this approach. One can use it only when machines, (or monitors), are close enough together so you can see the curser on the screens!. OK for hermits that want more machines than they need you know the type, cant even use the one they own to its full potential.

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further try a four port KVM

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I use a tablet PC for work and dock it alongside my desktop when I am home. So far I have used two pieces of software to control both computers using one keyboard and mouse - ShareKMC and Synergy - admitedly neither have the universal clipboard of Multiplicity Pro but both are free and work flawlessly. In my opinion Synergy is the better of the two products as you only need move your mouse to the edge of the screen to move between computer. ShareKMC on the other hand requires a hotkey to be used.

Multiplicity looks good but I'm not prepared to pay for a universal clipboard just yet. If anyone can offer a more compelling reason, bearing in mind my comments above I may be prepared to hand over my cash.

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My experiences with Synergy have not been positive. I'm glad that you got it to work but for me, it was a pain in the butt. It seems to randomly lose connections. It also does not play well on a DHCP network which my home network is. So every time I bring my tablet in, I have to go in and reconfigure it. The universal clipboard is also a pretty big deal. Being able to just copy and paste files back and forth is pretty significant.

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I have to agree. When Multiplicity first came out I checked out synergy because it is "free" and quickly concluded that anyone suggesting it is only suggesting it because it is free and can't afford to pay for decent software. Besides the problems John mentioned, particularly random lost connections, there is a more straight forward problem, it doesn't connect automatically on boot up. How can anyone seriously recommend something that doesn't auto connect?

I got Multiplicity and it's been a dream. I think that people who have used other programs mention probably don't use them very much. Kind of a "show your friends" type thing. By contrast, I use Multiplicity 100% of the time. It's let me get another couple of years out of my old 600 Mhz laptop that I now have side-by-side with my "newer" 2.2 Ghz Dell box.

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Thanks for the responses guys, John, I'm sorry to hear of your problems, I guess I've just been lucky with Synergy. I use Synergy everytime I am at my desktop, for typing into the tablet and also for copying text and images across which it can do. As for files and folders these are shared and I have shortcuts set up to the correct locations. Since Im often working away from my home base I also use a synchronisation tool which updates my files when I get home.

Emily, thanks for your input, Synergy does include an autostart option and in my humble opinion is a decent piece of software regardless of price. In my experience price and quality do not correlate and as for showing off to friends you couldnt be further from the truth, I use the pogram all the time. Lets stick to talking about software and not insulting each other. In the interests of fairness I'll give Mutliplicity a try and let you all know what I think.

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