Re: 'Switch User' action

[Malcolm Tredinnick <malcolm commsecure com au>]

Sri,

On Sat, 2003-12-06 at 05:19, Sri Ramkrishna wrote
[...]
> > 	I guess the things you need to look at when deciding whether or not
> > something should go into the Actions menu are[1]:
> > 
> >   + Is it something that a large proportion of the user base will do
> >     pretty regularly?
> > 
> >       In this case, I think not - surely, most users will only ever use
> >       one account? And even if we thought a lot of users use more than
> >       one account, surely switching between accounts wouldn't be that
> >       common ?
> > 
> 
> I disagree.  In XP, I've found that since it's really easy to create 
> accounts at the begining of install that people tend to use them.  On my 
> XP box at home we have two accounts one for me and one for my wife.  The 
> advantage is that I can make changes to my account that won't affect hers.  
> Thats pretty compelling since most people don't like to see their 
> environment change underneath them.  Once a person understands the 
> advantages I think it will be used often.  

Your examples shows two users using two accounts (one account each).
That is the normal multiuser system usage. You and your wife do not
constitute a single user (although local and federal laws may view that
differently in some circumstances :-) ).

The question quoted was about one user using multiple accounts. This
question is not the be all and end all -- as others have pointed out,
sometimes a second user wants to log in without the first user needing
to log out -- but it is one of the use cases.

Cheers,
Malcolm