iMac support for multiple users on one machine--simultaneously?

[alra111]

My roommate and I use our iMac all the time and sometimes we have to wait for one of us to finish in order to use it...

As far as surfing the 'net, I am quite convinced that our iMac has the horsepower to handle both of us surfing simultaneously if only we could plug in an extra keyboard and mouse...after all, I can change the song playing on iTunes via the remote while he uses it for something else.

Does anyone know of any kind of rig that could allow us both to use the computer at the same time? We already have dual screens so all that's missing is some software to allow the whole thing to happen...

What would happen if we plug in a second keyboard and/or mouse to an available USB port? Would the iMac simply go schizo on us?

Alra111

 

[symphonix]

What would happen if we plug in a second keyboard and/or mouse to an available USB port? Would the iMac simply go schizo on us?

No, it would just use them to control the same system, you would only have one mouse cursor and could only type in one place at a time.

What you're doing is not impossible using X-Windows and a bit of Unix trickery. However it would require a lot of mucking around and create a range of little hurdles you would not have anticipated. It simply wouldn't be worth the effort, I'm afraid.

 

[eric2006]

If you have a cheap computer (G4, G3..) to use, it's very possible to share. I've done this successfully. Just make two accounts on the iMac, enable VNC in system preferences (sharing pane -> enable apple remote desktop, allow VNC users to control screen with password "__"), enable quick user switching, log into the VNC account, switch to the other account, then access the VNC account from the PC.

This kind of defeats the purpose though, because you're using another computer.