Teleport is a free (donation-ware) application for 10.4 & 10.5 that lets you use one keyboard and mouse to control any computer on your network. If you’re confused, let me tell you how I use it:
I use my powerbook’s keyboard and trackpad to control my mini, which acts as a media server (connected to a plasma tv). So instead of using a bluetooth keyboard/mouse or apple remote desktop to control what I’m watching on the mini, I can use the keyboard and mouse on my powerbook, which I’m most likely already using.
So how does it work? For my setup, hold down ctrl and move the mouse to the top of the powerbook display – the mouse magically jumps over to the mini. Once controlling the mini, you can use the mouse and keyboard just as if they were physically connected to it. Hold ctrl again, move the cursor to the bottom of the mini display – the keyboard and trackpad return home to the powerbook.
Here’s a video of teleport in action:
As you can see, when the powerbook is controlling the mini, a teleport logo appears on the controller computer’s display.
Some other cool features of teleport:
• drag and drop (one file at a time) from one computer to another on the network
• synchronizes clipboard to and from each computer
• installs as system preferences panel
• 5 second installation / 1 minute setup time
So far the only problems I’ve encountered is the inability to zoom in/out (apple+shift++ / apple+shift+-) on the “controlled” computer (this worked in 10.4, so it must be an issue with Leopard) and the occasional (1-2 times a month) crash or 1-2 minute temporary freezes (probably due to local network issues).
