ShareMouse for Mac

Pros

• Uses LAN
• Supports any mouse and keyboard
• Synchronization between devices

Cons

• Odd cursor behavior at times

ShareMouse for Mac lets you share a keyboard and/or mouse across two devices.

Want to share one keyboard with two computers? ShareMouse lets you do just that and supports mice as well. Although this is a review of the Mac version, there is a Windows version as well, but there is currently no support for Linux, Android and iOS. The program does require a LAN to work, so the two computers must be connected to each other in some manner.

ShareMouse supports practically any mouse or keyboard. The only requirement is that the mouse and keyboard be compatible with the system on which ShareMouse is running. Traditionally, you would need a switch to support keyboard use across multiple systems, but no additional hardware is needed.

Not only does ShareMouse support both Mac and Windows, but it supports both at the same time. That means that you can have a Mac system and a Windows system side by side with just one keyboard and one mouse. When you move beyond the freeware version of the ShareMouse, the power of this truly becomes evident. You can, for instance, drag files from your Windows computer and drop them on your Mac or vice versa, which essentially transforms your Mac and Windows computers into a unified system.

The clipboard is fully shared by both systems, which can be quite powerful when working with programs that support advanced pasting, such as Excel or Word. Drag, drop, cut, copy, paste and so forth are all as seamless as if working with a single setup.

Multi-monitor setups are fully supported, so if your Mac system is connected to two displays and your Windows system is connected to three, you have full access to all five monitors. ShareMouse is also able to synchronize certain events and actions between the Mac and Windows systems. This includes remote login, system locking and unlocking and screen savers, which are becoming less prevalent these days. Still, for remote users, this is a powerful feature that can bring both systems online in one go.

ShareMouse can be password protected. This prevents direct unauthorized use but also prevents nonauthorized ShareMouse instances from communicating. The program also uses AES encryption for all communication between the two systems in order to ensure a high level of security.

The free edition provides just basic mouse and keyboard support for two devices across any number of connected displays. If you want advanced features, such as drag and drop, you’ll need to upgrade to the standard edition, and business users must opt for the professional edition.

We did experience a bit of lag at times when crossing monitors from one system to another. While we were unable to eliminate the lag, we did get used to it, but would like to see this refined in the future.

Pros

• Uses LAN
• Supports any mouse and keyboard
• Synchronization between devices

Cons

• Odd cursor behavior at times