41–50 of 83 posts
An observation. There's a bizarre inconsistency in the videos coming out of Microsoft. The video for this (pretty bleeding cool) evening-and-weekend side-project couldn't sell anything, but that's not the point. The Mango video[1] looks and sounds pretty good, like it was made by professionals. But their Windows 8 videos[2][3] are unbelievably slipshod. This is so counterintuitive. Obviously, the Mango video is inten…
This is an internal tool that has been apparently been made public. All employees at MSFT get more than one machine connected to many screens. Mouse Without Borders was developed by a group of employees in their free time to make it easier to deal with multiple Windows desktops. IMHO it is much nicer and more secure than Synergy for managing Windows machines. It's not a clone of anything. The Garage is MSFTs version…
"All employees at MSFT get more than one machine connected to many screens" Just out of curiosity, why does everyone need more than one machine?
Note: I'm in Ops at MSFT.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"All employees at MSFT get more than one machine connected to many screens" Just out of curiosity, why does everyone need more than one machine?
They don't. Perhaps all devs get more than one machine, but not every employee ("blue badge") gets a 2nd or more system. My sole company-issued computer is a ThinkPad. Note: I'm in Ops at MSFT.
This does not sound right... does Microsoft own what their workers do on their nights and Weekends? I understand Google owning what its employees do on the 20% free time, but on weekends?
>"Microsoft Garage projects are projects that Microsoft employees perform in their nights and weekends" This does not sound right... does Microsoft own what their workers do on their nights and Weekends ? I understand Google owning what its employees do on the 20% free time, but on weekends?
Before you pass this off as a Synergy clone, check this out: > As Microsoft's Steve Clayton explains, "I have two PC’s on my desk at work connected to 3 LCD screens and using Mouse Without Borders I can move my mouse between the 3 screens, even though one of them is attached to a different PC from the other two. What’s more, I can move files between the 2 computers simply by dragging them from one desktop to another.…
> In addition to the file movement features, Mouse Without Borders also allows the user to log onto all the PCs linked together by the program via just one PC. That's the big one. I use a commercial tool (MaxiVista) right now, and I've used Synergy in the past (buggy). The drawback of both is that you need a separate keyboard for each system to log in, and then you can use the software as a KVM. If Mouse Without Bord…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> In addition to the file movement features, Mouse Without Borders also allows the user to log onto all the PCs linked together by the program via just one PC. That's the big one. I use a commercial tool (MaxiVista) right now, and I've used Synergy in the past (buggy). The drawback of both is that you need a separate keyboard for each system to log in, and then you can use the software as a KVM. If Mouse Without Bord…
I have a computer that does not have either a mouse keyboard or monitor attached to it, to use it I switch it on and wait for it to boot, then use windows RDP to login. I can view the screen, move the mouse across monitors seamlessly, use the clipboard. The only thing extra here is the file sharing - I can just hook up an external drive or sync using dropbox.
I'm not Microsoft fanboy, but you don't just dismiss a new feature because there exist clunky workarounds.
I mean, you can use a manual switch to workaround the mouse/keyboard/monitor sharing as well. You can also work around it by having a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for every machine.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They don't. Perhaps all devs get more than one machine, but not every employee ("blue badge") gets a 2nd or more system. My sole company-issued computer is a ThinkPad. Note: I'm in Ops at MSFT.
Yeah, I thought that sounded strange. It would even be slightly embarrassing if all people needed more than one machine to get their job done.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes. But Garage probably stole the idea. http://synergy-foss.org/pm/issues/47 Synergy isn't very developed but they do have an extensive roadmap, which Microsoft seems to have copied and implemented. This doesn't make them innovative, just coping a good idea. Maybe if this run on OS X I'd use it, but I'll stick to my separate Mouse/Keyboards for now. Btw, back in the day, I did love Synergy.
Synergy's been around for years and is still difficult to use. Ideas that don't have good execution aren't worth anything to users.
Before you pass this off as a Synergy clone, check this out: > As Microsoft's Steve Clayton explains, "I have two PC’s on my desk at work connected to 3 LCD screens and using Mouse Without Borders I can move my mouse between the 3 screens, even though one of them is attached to a different PC from the other two. What’s more, I can move files between the 2 computers simply by dragging them from one desktop to another.…
> In addition to the file movement features, Mouse Without Borders also allows the user to log onto all the PCs linked together by the program via just one PC. That's the big one. I use a commercial tool (MaxiVista) right now, and I've used Synergy in the past (buggy). The drawback of both is that you need a separate keyboard for each system to log in, and then you can use the software as a KVM. If Mouse Without Bord…