Making Computer Work Harder

That is a very interesting idea. It would no longer be a personal computer. It would be going back to the bad old days of a mainframe with multiple remote I/O units.

You are right in that the processors have plenty of power for many users. There may not be many operating systems still out there for mainframes. You may have identified the next big thing! I think the net computers are a step in the direction you are suggesting. They have smaller resources at the user end and more is done elsewhere.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

Most computers can easily run at least two independent monitors. I have an external monitor connected to my laptop.

You can easily connect multiple keyboards, mice & monitors with a device called a "KVM Extender"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVM_extender

Many years ago, I think it was back when I was running Windows 95, maybe earlier, I had a setup where I could operate two computers from a single keyboard, mouse and monitor. There was a mechanical switch involved- I would start a process on one computer, switch to the second computer to do some additional work, then back to the first to check on progress. I finally set it up so each computer had its own monitor, but I still had my single input for two computers.

Today, I type to you on a plug-in key board, switching back to the laptop keyboard when I don't need any "r"'s or "f" or "4"'s or "v"'s (my laptop keyboard has a dead row). I can type alternate letters from different keyboards, and the computer does not seem to care.xyxyxyyxyyxxyxyxyxyxy. Here I was simultaneously (or, as near to simultaneous as I am capable of achieving) typing x on one keyboard and y on the other keyboard. I suspect I could install several usb keyboard inputs without too much issue. I don't know what would happen if I tried multiple mice...And, of course, multiple monitors are possible. Now, the question is, can I work in one application with one keyboard while the wife works another application with another keyboard? I haven't tried that yet, but something tells me it would get hairy, even though the computer has a dual core processor....

Anyway, I suspect the way this particular system is set up, if you and I were to try to edit the same document at the same time on the same computer using different input devices, we would wind up with gibberish...

Unix/Linux with async to either dumb or intelligent terminals.

Actually, it's been a few years since I have needed this capability, what with how cheap hardware (and now, thanks to OpenSource, software) has gotten so cheap. I do on occasion run an analysis that can take several hours to complete- but I have other computers that I can operate while the one doing the analysis is cranking away. At one time, I had five different computers in my work station, and it was not unusual for each one to be doing something different (I am down to three these days- semi-retired, you know). When I work with a collaborator (say, putting together a major proposal), it is better to work sequentially than concurrently- you review my input and modify it, then I look at your contributions and change them back, and on and on until the deadline hovers. If we tried to change things simultaneously, we would most likely wind up with gibberish...

You can use multiple keyboards and mice on the same machine. They can be attached PS2 and USB or all USB. I think where you'll find the problem is if you were working on say two separate documents. The one where the current activity is is the one where typing can happen until the other person clicks on the document that they want to work on and then that's where the activity will happen. You can't work on both at the same time.

Even if you have two separate screens with a different document on each screen, I think you'll find the same thing. You can only work on one at a time.

What you are looking for or at least close to what you want to do is called remote desktop services, terminal services, or thin client services depending on what each manufacturer calls their product. These systems use a server (which can be very cheap) and a client (the machine each one of you work on). The clients can be another computer or just what amounts to a mouse, keyboard, and monitor. It's a little more complicated than that but not much.

It depends on what type of application. Database, yes multiple users in the same file at the same time - it's called record locking - you just cannot update the same record within a file at the same time. Depending on what word processor you are using, you CAN have multiple people editing the same document. Only when FILE locking is implemented do you deny another user write access to that file.

you beat me to this. GA for you!

I can only ask "why?"

Chris, post #8 answers the why.

"Why" is probably best answered by the word "money".

Thank you for your input, gents. I am looking for possibility for two or more people (better four -- one computer for each table) to work on one computer from two or more accounts (there may be many accounts on one computer), to make it possible that several people do one project or even completely different projects simultaneously... It would give me a chance to buy one good computer instead of two-four mediocre ones; save space; save energy; save some money on software... It would be good for such places like libraries, schools, homes with multiple users (for many kids).

The school my kids go to make fond raiser right now to buy some computers for school. They want more money in addition to what the County gives to do the best they can for children. That is why I am asking this question -- maybe there is a way to buy less but better machines for the school and achieve better result for the same amount of money (they will have limited fond, but if we think a little bit, may be we can do more for less). So, if you know how to do this, let me know, please; your help is appreciated.

Thank you, and God bless!

Where are you located?

Denver, Colorado

Several companies make computer systems like in this discussion. HP is the latest vendor with the "Multi Seat" . It allows for cheaper cost for workstations. Most school systems see these as a way of lowering the cost per student for individual instruction. Microsoft just introduced " Server 2010 " to handle these workstations. Our school system has bought somewhere around 50 of these giving a total of around 300 keyboards. We're all gonna cry big tears if these things are problematic.

It is Microsoft MultiPoint Server 2010, not to be confused with Microsoft's standard server products.

Purchase a KVM switch. KVM stands for keyboard, video and mouse. This device allows you to use one keyboard, one monitor and one mouse on several computers. The KVM switch may come with all the cables you need, or you may need to buy additional cables to connect to every computer from the KVM.

Thanks for your input, but this is just the opposite what I wanted: you say about one KM&M set working on several computers (which, of course, can make sense), and I was looking for the answer on how multiple KM&M sets can work on a single computer. There are some pretty good answers there above. But thank you for your answer anyway -- I had not heard about KVM never before.