Synergy is My New Favorite Thing
This is by no means a new bit of software, but I’ve finally had a reason to use it, and I couldn’t be more blown away. Synergy (not to be confused with the iTunes control app by Wincent) is more or less a software-based KVM switch…except it’s not…and it’s cooler.
So where a KVM switch allows you to use a single mouse, keyboard, and display with multiple computers, Synergy allows you to use a single mouse and keyboard with multiple computers (and their connected screens). You may be asking yourself – as I was before I used it for myself – “why would that be at all useful?” Perhaps explaining my setup with Synergy will shed a bit more light.
At my office I place my closed Dell notebook in a docking station which has an attached LCD, keyboard, and mouse. On top of the docking station (and next to the LCD) is where my MacBook sits. It’s raised-up a bit, and a minor inconvenience to reach for the trackpad and keyboard, and thus my need for Synergy was realized.
So with Syngery in place, all I have to do is move my cursor from right to left – from my Dell’s LCD to my MacBook’s screen – and the keyboard and mouse that are hooked to my Dell now control my MacBook too! Seeing it in action and realizing just what it’s doing really is the icing on the cake.
So how does it achieve this VooDoo magic? The power of TCP/IP my friends. Each of the versions – OS X, Windows, and Linux – includes a server and a client app. In my case, I’m using the keyboard and mouse attached to the Dell, so it’s setup as my server, while the MacBook is set as the client. The tricky part is that the Mac client runs through the Terminal, so if you’re not comfortable working in the CLI, you may have to take a little more time getting it fully setup. But believe me when I tell you, that once it’s working, it will blow you away.
As far as geekiness goes, this one’s at an 11. I haven’t been this jazzed about a piece of software since Quicksilver changed my life, and we all know the significance of that! But Synergy is pretty niche in what it offers – either you’ve got a multi-system setup that would benefit from it, or you don’t.
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This is a must have when using synergy with OS X – http://software.landryhetu.com/synergy/
It’s a gui wrapper that provides a synergy menuling. And yes.. synergy is
I’ve been using Synergy in my classroom for a few weeks and love the control! I tend to use hotkeys, though, as opposed to the sides of the screen to make sure I avoid accidental changes. You can also set it to wait at the edge of the screen.
Synergy is the coolest app I’ve seen in a while, but it needs some fixin. Sometimes it will crash and the entire config goes away so be backin up that config file every once in a while.
Chris
Sounds good. Any chance of a screencast showing it in action?
I guess it wouldn’t be as straight forward as your usual ones, would need a video camera for this?
Sounds very sexy – I use Teleport to accomplish the same thing between my Macs at home, but I don’t know if Teleport works in a multi-platform environment. One of the nice things about Teleport is clipboard support (ie. copy something on one machine, and paste it in the other), and drag-and-drop between machines.
if you have a ‘mac only’ setup like i do; you can use teleport by Abyssoft. works just as good and much easier to setup. :-)
Jono – as with anything I’m super hyped about, my first thought was a screencast. But there’s a couple logistical pitfalls:
as you mentioned, a camcorder would be necessary, so less a screencast, than a video production. :)
And really, once you see it, it’s just watching the cursor move from screen to screen.
but I’ll maybe do a config post – if there becomes any demand for it.
a side note – May’s sorta been a slack month for me blogging wise. I’ve got a BUNCH of posts on the back burners, as well as several screencasts I’ve been wanting to do. So they’ll be back…promise!
ShadowBottle – thanks for the link – good to know!
Abelara – now that you mention it, I have heard of that before, but had forgotten about it. It wouldn’t help in my setup, but it’s a good resource for the mac-only users out there. Thanks!
I’ve been using it for a few months now. First, I used it at work, when I was configuring a laptop while doing my normal work. It was a cheesy old Dell, with a cheesy trackpad. I was able to use my laptop (another WIntel) and real mouse. It was also nice for my flow–I could pop over to do something on the Dell while working on other stuff without moving my hands.
At home, I can use my MacBook, and pop over to my daughter’s computer to do something for her (she’s two and a half). Again, don’t move my hands. Before, I practically had to get up.
Definitely a favorite app.
Synergy has made my workstation ROCK! I have a MacPro with 2 20 inch monitors, and right next to those is a 17 inch lcd connected to my PC/WindowsXPbox. Synergy allows me to slide my cursor off the right edge of the mac monitors right onto the PC. The keyboard operates the pc when the cursor is there. You can even cut and paste between the two.
As a web developer, I have all my dev sites on the Mac (Apache), and serve them to the network. I can check my sites in 6 Mac browsers, and 6+ PC browsers with one KB and mouse.
While off-topic, I have Multiple versions of IE running on the PC – 7, 6, 5.5, 5.0, 4 and 3. See: http://tredosoft.com/Multiple_IE
One more thing: Synergy Config
You can set the corners of the screen to remain on the pass-through side, allowing to keep hot corners on the MAC. I keep 150 pixels of corner reserved for the Mac; and the area inbetween passes through to the PC screen. See SWITCH CORNERS below:
Sample Config:
# sample synergy configuration file
#
# comments begin with the # character and continue to the end of
# line. comments may appear anywhere the syntax permits.
section: screens
MyPCsName:
MyMacsName:
end
section: links
MyPCsName:
left = MyMacsName
MyMacsName:
right = MyPCsName
end
section: aliases
MyPCsName:
192.168.0.3
MyMacsName:
192.168.0.6
end
section: options
switchCorners = right
switchCornerSize = 150
end