LapLink transforms itself into LapLink.com

LapLink from Traveling Software Inc. has been the easiest to use file-transfer and remote-control program for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system. Now the company has a new name—LapLink.com—and a new version of LapLink.

LapLink 2000 works with all versions of Windows, including Windows 2000, which is slated to be released Feb. 17. That means you won't have to worry about which version of Windows a computer is running in order to connect to it for file-transfer or remote-control operations.

LapLink 2000 also expands the universe of ways to connect two computers. While previous versions of LapLink supported connections via serial cable, parallel cable, Universal Serial Bus port, wireless, fast infrared, modem and local-area network, LapLink 2000 adds the Internet to the array of connection possibilities. An Internet connection may, depending on World Wide Web traffic, be slower than a direct modem-to-modem connection. But if the computers are located just a toll call apart, the Internet connection can save your users lots of money.

All it takes for two computers to connect via the Internet is for one to "publish" a unique computer address via the Web to LapLink's directory server. The other computer, also running LapLink 2000, seeks out the address and establishes the connection. Administrators concerned about security also can set up their own Internet directory server for users to employ.

This new version of LapLink also offers Voice Chat, a feature previously available only in LapLink Tech. Voice Chat enables users to communicate by voice over the same line that is being used to link the two computers. Accordingly, your help-desk staff can ask questions of users while controlling the linked computer remotely.

Another new feature is LinkToNet, which enables access to network resources through a designated host system on the network, including not only network drives but other resources such as printers.

LapLink 2000 does not offer all the features found in its main competitor, Symantec Corp.'s pcAnywhere. You won't find, for example, automatic virus checking or the ability to connect to multiple hosts simultaneously, but LapLink's reliability and ease of setup and use make it hard to beat.