OS X and Windows 7

Developing too and once was a hard core PC person who at one stage was honestly upset by mac OS (pre OSX).  With the upgrade to OS X Lion my 3D performance (in Unity web player) has shot up and the whole experience is a) More consistent b) less fiddly with hidden layers of clicks further clicks and notifications c) more stable d) does not constantly jabber about updates.     As Lion has added user  account switching this has been a major plus.

When I have to test in Windows 7 now I just run a virtual machine, check out things like VMware fusion and Parallels if you want to go this route but essentially the Mac runs windows very well and the desktops between the windows and mac worlds can be shared.

FYI: user account switching has been around in OS X for years, for sure since Leopard, but I think it was also in Tiger (and maybe earlier). I use it all the time when I remote desktop to my Mom's iMac. She is running Snow Leopard.

I also have a lot of success running Windows in a VM using Fusion (I dumped WIn7 and went back to XP Pro). I use that for teaching when I have a classroom using Windows & need to explain something Windows specific, and I use it to remote desktop to my work machine when I work from home. I have gotten to the point where the only thing I need Windows for my self is the run the software that programs my racing radio a couple times a year (when I go to Sebring and Petit Le Mans).

Originally Posted by RaceTripper:

FYI: user account switching has been around in OS X for years,

Well I'm quite happy to be corrected on that    If it has it has then Lion finally got the design of the feature right for me!  ha ha .

It isn't any different.  Well, at least not that I can tell or remember.

I actually don't even use that feature on my computer (as I don't share it with anyone).

It isn't any different. Well, at least not that I can tell or remember.

Hi RaceTipper, not wanting to go too far off topic from OP I've had a look and cannot find it even now under OSX 10.5.8!!! Must web search.  On Lion it has your user name top right you can drop down to others and it will switch instantly to any one logged in or not. It (sometimes slightly annoyingly)  remembers and loads all the apps and docs you had open when you were last logged in as well.   Great OS though.  Oh and it's the kids diving in and logging me out!

Originally Posted by RaceTripper:

It isn't any different. Well, at least not that I can tell or remember.

Hi RaceTipper, not wanting to go too far off topic from OP I've had a look and cannot find it even now under OSX 10.5.8!!! Must web search.  On Lion it has your user name top right you can drop down to others and it will switch instantly to any one logged in or not. It (sometimes slightly annoyingly)  remembers and loads all the apps and docs you had open when you were last logged in as well.   Great OS though.  Oh and it's the kids diving in and logging me out!

Yes, under the Apple menu and select System Preferences. When that opens click the icon for Accounts (Lion has it as Users and Groups, but I think Accounts is the old term for it). There should be a button that says "Login Options" or something to that affect. When you click that there should be a checkbox to enable "Fast user switching." I'm going by what the names are for these things under Lion, so for Leopard they might be called something slightly different, but the option is there.

I think the difference is that with Lion, fast user switching is enabled by default and that with earlier versions of OS X it might have been disabled by default.

top man RaceTripper, not Tipper,

 I go on race trips, and I tip my servers, so both count.