Use Laptop's minitor as external OR access laptop with desktop's mouse and keyboard

Question

Okay I have a desktop and Laptop both are fairly new, however I haven't find a way to use both effectively. Is there a way I can use my laptop's monitor as an external monitor to my desktop without connecting to a VGA cable ? Or more prefer way, control my laptop with my desktop's keyboard and mouse (assuming we are both on the same network)

Thanks

ps. I'm not looking for remote desktop as a solution, since that way one of the monitor will have the exact same as the other

Answer 1

Synergy or the updated Synergy-plus is one way to control two or more computers even with different operating systems with one keyboard and mouse. It is not a KVM solution, or VNC (remote desktop)

Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It's intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitor(s).

Not sure this is exactly what you are asking for, but you can have your desktop and laptop both up and running, when you move your mouse off one screen it shows up on the other computer and now the keyboard controls that computer.

Answer 2

Synergy+ is great, I use it all the time.

If you want to use the laptop's monitor as if it is a second desktop monitor you might also check out ZoneOS (free). MaxiVista is another more polished option, but not free.