Limitations of Fast User Switching ??

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djbeta

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Are there any limitations to Fast User Switching ??

One question I have is-- could automated Applescripts that send emails from Filemaker be running while that user isn't currently the active user ??
 
i'm not the most knowledgable, so I could be wrong,
but I know that when you switch from one user to another, the user that's not active doesn't have any live network connections (the iChat account doesn't stay logged in, airport has to reestablish a signal, etc)
So I'd say the answer is no, you can't have the 'dormant' user running scripts in the background.

maybe set it as a system wide service in the background? I don't know enough to be of help in that area though.
 
and thats quite a shame isn't it? i would love to have the possibility to keep some apps active, mail keeping checking mail every X min, downloads running etc, while switching to another user.. isn't there any workaround for this? will this be a feature in tiger?

sounds quite easy if the only thing messing it up is that the network connection have to be re-established when switching user.. why isn't there some "general network"-option, meaning a network wich works across the user, and kinda is always present in the "bottom" of the OS, even under the user.. see what i mean?

alex.
 
To be more accurate you can but the ownership of many of the system resources changes which can cause some programs problems. But they can still run just fine if they do not need to access those resources, IIRC.
 
Even Windows allows all the processes from the other user to keep running. Downloads, you name it. I can't believe Apple overlooked this! :mad:
 
Actually, fast user switching has pretty been the only big disappointment for me in Panther - it just isn't that fast (because you actually have to log out of your other users to shutdown, reenter passwords to switch back and forth, etc, etc.)

Seems Apple has a fair bit of work to do to make user switching friendlier/faster.

Kap
 
Um. how is that bad. Yes, you need a password. if you don't want one, create your account without a password. it's called security. as for shutting down. it's so that joe-schmo can't shut down and kill everyone else off, destroying their unsaved work.

if you are an admin user, you can shutdown without logging others out (it will prompt for an admin password).
 
Pengu said:
Um. how is that bad. Yes, you need a password. if you don't want one, create your account without a password. it's called security.
Click to expand...
I want to be able to say "let me switch freely between these three accounts (i.e. because they're my accounts), but don't let anyone else into them". Can't be done.

Pengu said:
as for shutting down. it's so that joe-schmo can't shut down and kill everyone else off, destroying their unsaved work.
Click to expand...
This is fair enough when there are programs running in the other accounts, but why can't the system be smart enough to say "Ok, there's nothing running/open on the other accounts, don't need admin verification to shutdown"?

Kap
 
i think fast user switching is designed for AVERAGE users. how many average users would have three different accounts on one machine, all for use by one person? hell. i can't imagine any need for three accounts for a single user.
 
From Apple's standpoint-- I think it shouldn't be too hard to make it so that a user can have no password, but when they're logged on, make it so that they could enter some sort of protected session status... such that another logged in user couldn't log them out without they're password (which will only be used for situations like this-- a protected session)
 
Again, in Apple's strive for simplicity and harmony, I doubt they'd ever implement two passwords for one account. For the average user, trying to remember their OS X password and Hotmail password (along with their ISP's password, and even their ATM code) is enough.

Honestly, how many times do you type your password in each day? Once to login... then when? Installing new software, sure, but how often is that?
 
Not sure what you are all having issue with regarding network access capability, as I can be logged in in another account, and web browsers and IM clients in different accounts keep working JUST FINE. Be aware that the Offline/disconnect thing in iChat is an APPLE imposed thing, not how it works by default. iTunes used to be set so that you couldn't have it running in two accounts at the same time either, but that too was an APPLE imposed 'feature' which has now been remedied.
 
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