The story behind Lanview

Origins

Lanview started out in early 2001 as a ‘I wonder if…’ moment after getting frustrated with Windows networks not having the facility to see who was on the network in near real time.

The first two versions were used internally at the organisation the developer worked at. In 2004 released under MST Software as freeware with requests for donations. It was aimed solely at the education market and was primarily used by secondary schools in the UK.

Lanview 3 gave the ability to list all computers on the network, along with their users, and a host of other useful information like device name and IP address. It was able to group devices to allow for easier management. It also included the ability to remotely control devices using VNC. A popular feature at the time was VNC Slideshow that gave the ability for a CCTV style wallboard cycling through device screens to see what was happening. In education, this was useful for seeing what the students were up to.

Lanview 4 built on the success of its predecessor, giving a more robust engine and introducing support for Windows XP. Released around 2006, it was the final version of Lanview for 20 years. Life, work and family took over.

There have been a few times when Lanview 5 was started again, but it never took off. Until 2026.