BACKGROUND:
I just bought an Apple Macintosh PowerPC G4 desktop computer with 17" monitor.
The Macintosh is running OSX 10.2.
I plan to use the Macintosh almost exclusively for the iLife multimedia apps.

I also have an IBM Thinkpad 380Z laptop that I've been using for 3 years.
The laptop is running Windows NT 4.0 SP-6.
I plan to continue using the PC for the Office applications and Outlook.

Both the Macintosh and the PC are connected behind an Ethernet Broadband
Gateway Firewall/Router which is connected to the internet.

PROBLEM
I plan to continue using both computers, but
having the Mac keyboard, mouse and monitor AND
the PC laptop on my desk is cumbersome and 
uses up too much space on my (physical) desk.

QUESTION
How do I use my Macintosh to operate my PC (the PC would be on a shelf, 
the Mac tower on the floor, and the Mac keyboard/mouse/monitor on my desk)?

ANSWERS I DO NOT WANT
- Expensive software solutions like Timbuktu which does way more than I need;
- A hardware solution like switches which switch the Mac keyboard/mouse/monitor
  between the Mac and the PC;
- Browser based solutions which tend to be slow and use up internet bandwidth
  (my ISP charges internet traffic usage).

I think what I'm essentially looking for is an inexpensive (under $25.00)
way to turn my Mac into a "dumb terminal" or console for the Windows-based
laptop PC; i.e. a software version of the keyboard/mouse/monitor switch.

Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by googleexpert-ga on 11 Mar 2003 13:19 PST

Have you tried VNCThing?
http://www.webthing.net/vncthing/

Let me know if that answers your question.

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Clarification of Question by winr-ga on 12 Mar 2003 05:31 PST

Thanks for the clarification!

I just downloaded and installed the VNCThing viewer for 
the Mac and the VNC server for the PC.
On the surface, it meets all the criteria I set out.
However it is quite slow (a significant delay between
an action like a mouse click and the response on the 
screen).
I need a day to see if I can speed it up by adjusting the 
configuration. I will respond here shortly.

Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by googleexpert-ga on 12 Mar 2003 06:31 PST

I forgot this program:
"Remote Desktop Connection"
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/rdc/default.asp?navindex=s9b
Let me know if that speeds things up for you and if that answers your
question, do you mind if answer your question officially?

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Clarification of Question by winr-ga on 12 Mar 2003 20:52 PST

>"Remote Desktop Connection" 
>http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/rdc/default.asp?navindex=s9b 
>Let me know if that speeds things up for you 
The Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection works on my Mac, but there does
not seem to be a complementary server application for my OS 
(Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Service Pack 6)
The closest I was able to find was Windows NT Terminal Server Edition,
and I do not intend to change the OS on my laptop in the near future.
This did not speed things up, in fact there was no connection.

As for VNC, changing parameters in the User Configuration menu had no 
noticeable impact on the response of the Windows PC.

Also, in my testing I noticed that if I run a Powerpoint presentation 
rich in graphic content,over the VNC interface, in "Slideshow" mode
the VNCThing client takes at least 5 seonds to update the screen.
This serious limitation renders the VNC solution unuseable for my purposes.

>and if that answers your question, 
I'm afraid that my question is not answered quite yet.

>do you mind if answer your question officially?
Thanks for your clarifications to date.
You're quite welcome to answer my question officially;
but at this point I cannot unequivocally say that I
have a solution to the problem that triggered my question.

Regards.

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Request for Question Clarification by googleexpert-ga on 23 Mar 2003 17:45 PST

Have you tried other implementations of VNC?

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Clarification of Question by winr-ga on 25 Mar 2003 06:30 PST

Re: "Have you tried other implementations of VNC?"

I have done a (not exhaustive) search on Google, and have only found
one other server version (3.3.3r9) worth trying. It also have the speed (display
refresh) problems.

Thanks for the clarification question.

Hi winr!

I feel that a program called "TightVNC", available from
http://www.tightvnc.com/ for free will meet your needs. It has all the
functionality of VNC but is much faster due to it's compression
technology. You install a TightVNC server on your NT machine, and you
can use a Macintosh TightVNC client, available from
http://www.workspot.org/vnc/ .

The combination of these tools will provide a great way for you to
control your PC  through free software. If you would like further
clarfication on TightVNC, please feel free to request it.

Thanks for the great question:
/gleffler-ga

Search strategy:
compressed VNC
TightVNC Mac client
free Mac VNC client compression

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Request for Answer Clarification by winr-ga on 03 Apr 2003 07:02 PST

Thank you for your response.

I tested the TightVnc solution you proposed and,
while it is faster than the VNC solutions proposed by others,
it's still too slow for my needs (e.g. the Powerpoint example
I cited in an earlier message).

Also, as I couldn't get the Workspot TightVnc viewer to work
on my Mac, so I used the VNCThing viewer proposed earlier.
Would this make a difference?
Can you confirm that the Workspot TightVnc viewer works on OSX?

Please confirm.

Regards,

/winr-ga

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Clarification of Answer by gleffler-ga on 03 Apr 2003 08:05 PST

I was able to get the Workspot viewer working on my Mac with OS X
10.2.4, but I'm unsure why it might not be working on your machine.

Another possible solution for you to try are commercial products like
pcAnywhere or Timbuktu. The speed requirements you have pretty much
mandate that - or Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol, but that would
necessistate an upgrade to Windows XP.

I'm sorry that I can't give you more hope, but the free solutions are
somewhat limited. TightVNC is generally acceptable, but as you've
found, even it has issues.

If you need help selecting a commercial product, I'd be glad to help
with that.

Good luck!
gleffler-ga

try this:
       http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/rdc/default.asp?navindex=s9b

Farzin, thank you for your suggestion.
Yes, the RDC client you suggest does work, but 
it requires Terminal Services or RDC to be running on the 
Windows-based PC.
My operating system (Win NT 4.0 SP-6) does not appear to support these.

The only real free solution in your price range is VNC, as mentioned
earlier. Terminal services, while it will work on a Mac, requires
either a desktop computer running WinXP, or Win2k server with Terminal
services enabled.

You really would be best served by using a KVM. There are KVMs which
are controlled via the keyboard (the one in my server room uses the
page-up button) to switch between systems. Unfortunately, these KVMs
do run more than $25.