Apple - Mac OS X - Features - Fast User Switching

New Features

Overview

Share your Mac with other users quickly and painlessly. With one click, you can switch to your desktop with all documents and applications exactly as you left them. No need to log out from another user’s account first.

When people in an office, a school or a household need to share a computer, Fast User Switching lets them leave their applications running and their documents open when another user needs to log in. This makes it more convenient to have separate, personal user accounts for each member of a workgroup, a classroom or a family.

Individual security
Fast User Switching lets you switch between users on a single Mac without quitting applications and logging out, but it doesn't compromise your security. When a user accesses an account, other accounts remain active in the background, with applications running and documents still open. While any account is switched out, the UNIX-based security model in Mac OS X ensures that all data and applications remain secure.

Fast USer Switching Menu

On the menu
When you activate Fast User Switching in the System Preferences, a new menu appears on the right of the menubar. A quick trip to it lets you switch between accounts. After a new user account is authenticated, the new user sees the account in the same state it was last left, with any applications running. That means you can keep everybody's preferences distinct without wasting time.

Managing accounts
The Accounts panel in System Preferences makes it easy to manage security levels of multiple accounts. You can set passwords, user pictures, security levels and limitations for different users. The Accounts panel also lets you enable or disable Fast User Switching and choose a user account for automatic login.

Because Quartz and OpenGL can
Panther animates transitions from one user to another. The current desktop becomes a texture placed on a 3D cube that rotates out of view while the incoming account desktop rotates into view on another side of the cube.

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