There are tons of mouse/keyboard sharing applications (MouseWithouBorder, Synergy, ShareMouse, Input Director...) some or free some are not, some are Windows only some are both Linux/Windows
Agreed - TeamViewer is the BEST remote desktop app. Input Director basically allows you to move your mouse cursor from your laptop into the other computer without having to logging into another computer. It's pretty seamless for those looking looking for this type of application.