How does Fast User Switching work?

[seppevs]

Hi,

I have a quick question on how "Fast User Switching" is implemented in OS X. I have added an account in OS X yesterday for my wife, and I have enabled fast user switching.

Now, what I wonder:
- Do my downloads continue when my wife switches to her account? Example: Transmission (bittorrent), will it continue with uploading/downloading when my wife switched to her account?
- Do my applications continue to run when my wife switches to her account? Example: Handbrake (converting a movie). Will it continue with converting while my wife switched to her account?

And I have almost the same questions for the case when I click "Login Window" (screenshot: http://www.askdavetaylor.com/0-blog-pics/mac-fast-user-switching-menu.png ). Do my apps continue to run & download then?

Thanks for the answer. I can't test it right now myself because I'm currently not at home (and on a Windows machine).

 

[spinnerlys]

Everything will continue, as long as you don't log out, which is not the same as Fast User Switching.

As you can see, Dave and Linda are logged in, the Admin is not. Also Linda is the current active account, Dave's account is working in the background.


For more information: http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=fast+user+switching+mac&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

 

[seppevs]

That's just great! Thanks for your answer!

 

[robbieduncan]

I would note that applications can detect the switch. For example I'm pretty sure iTunes does this and pauses and Adium can set your status to Away when you switch out of your account...

 

[mvmanolov]

does osx server keep running?

 

[MattInOz]

You can test this with activity monitor, apps assigned to the background user should still show up in cpu and network use if you have filtering set to "All Processes". The User column will tell you which are your's and which are your wife's applications, plus a gaggle of system users.

 

[MattInOz]

does osx server keep running?

The server parts will start before you even hit the User login window.