It always felt a little odd that a product called MaxiVista was (somewhat) incompatible with Microsoft’s Vista OS. However, after a bit of a wait, the folks at MaxiVista seem to have overcome their technical hurdles and the product is back with MaxiVista v4.

For those who may be unfamiliar, MaxiVista is a software application/driver that allows:

• a remote PC to act as a second (or third, or fourth) monitor
• remote control (K/M) of a second PC
• clipboard sharing between PCs
• display cloning between PCs

This all takes place over a regular LAN connection. In the past, I have used this software while traveling to allow me to use a low-end laptop to act as a secondary display to my main development PC, which is a lot more convenient than trying to travel with an actual display, LCD or otherwise. All you do is run a small Viewer application on the “slave machine” (no installer required) and the main PC can discover it and make use of it.

The product supports Windows Vista and Windows 7 in both 32 and 64-bit configurations (and of course still supports XP, 2003, 2000, etc.)

If you are as much of a fan of using multiple-monitors as I am, MaxiVista is definitely worth a look. They do offer a time and run-limited free trial version.