HOME
TOPICS
ABOUT ME
MAIL
Running programs are left alone. They're still running, even when another user logs in as the active user.
|
| technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983
T h e R o a d L e s s T r a v e l e d
How OS X 10.3 can solve a big family problem:
One user's programs can be left undisturbed while another user logs on
Dec. 17, 2003
By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, The Post-Standard
Modern Macs are multi-user computers. Mom, Dad, Sis and Junior have their own personal files as long as they log in to the Mac using a separate username and password.
OS X, the operating system on modern Macintoshes, handles separate users very well. Prior to OS X Panther (version 10.3), someone at the keyboard of an OS X Mac had to log out before another one could log in. (Many users could be remotely connected at the same time, but previous versions of OS X had no way to allow a directly connected user to stay active while another one logged on directly.)
Apple's solution in OS X 10.3 is Fast User Switching, which can be turned on or off from the Accounts pane in System Preferences. With Fast User Switching turned on, Mom can take a break from her Froogle search for hardy perennials -- without losing any of the Web pages open in her copy of Safari -- while Dad logs on to send a dozen e-mails to the other singers in the caroling group. And then both Mom and Dad can remain logged on while Sis sends iChat messages to her schoolmates, and Junior can then log on to finish up a report while the others in the family watch a new episode of "Friends" on TV.
All this happens without a hitch. The first user never has to log off so that another one can work on (or play with) the computer. To allow another user to log on, the current user merely clicks on the "Login Window" menu at the upper right corner of the screen. The other user then types the appropriate username and password. The current user's desktop immediately rotates away as the next user's desktop rotates into view. (The rotating cube effect is stunning, but it's also a visual confirmation that nothing is being lost in transition.)
Once the entire family is logged on, no one needs to log off. All that's needed is a quick switch from one user to another. Because Mac OS X computers don't run out of resources the way Windows PCs do and don't crash on cue the way old computers of all kinds used to do, families can leave their Macintosh on continually, with everyone logged on separately. At night, the last user can put the Mac to sleep. Everything is kept just the way it was, and the Mac will spring back to life in a few seconds the next day.
What's not obvious in the way that Mac OS X 10.3 handles user switching is the fact that running programs are left alone. They're still running, even when another user logs in as the active user. In other words, if Junior is downloading two or three albums from the iTunes Music Store, Sis can log on to transfer her iPod playlists without affecting the downloads occurring in the other account.
Multiple user accounts are ideal for families, of course, but they're also a great way to share a single OS X Macintosh in a small office or college dormitory. Each user has a separate Home folder named for the user that is inaccessible to everyone else. Within that folder are the user's downloads, documents, music, videos, mail, Sticky Notes, calendar items and Web-page shortcuts.
Those files usually end up in the Home folder automatically. Unless they try hard to get around the folder scheme in OS X, users probably would not be able to choose a location other than their Home folder for documents, mail and other items of that kind.
Another kind of file belongs in the Home folder. As a rule, all programs installed only for one user should be placed in an Applications folder inside that user's Home folder. You'll have to create the Applications folder; it's not part of the standard setup when OS X creates a user's Home folder.
Keeping the user's own applications, documents and other personal files separate has a few obvious advantages and a few that aren't obvious at all, as we'll see next week.
| |