Windows XP for Home Users, Service Pack 2 Edition

IN THIS CHAPTER

Planning for Multiple Users 358

Types of Users 358

Setting Up New Users 360

Editing User Settings 361

Switching Users 365

Sharing or Not Sharing Files and Folders 366

The Bottom Line 368

If you're using your personal computer at home, chances are you're not the only person using it. When you're not pounding the keys, chances are that either your spouse or your children are perched in front of the screen. This makes your PC a multiple-user machine, whether or not you like it.

Unfortunately, the Windows 9X/Me operating system was built as a single-user operating system. Yes, you could use it with multiple users, but it just didn't feel right.

In contrast, Windows NT/2000 has always been a multiple-user operating system. It had to be. This industrial-grade OS was built to handle multiple users on multiple computers over a corporate network. Handling multiple users was essential for NT/2000, from day one.

Because Windows XP is built on the Windows 2000 engine, it figures that it inherits the multiple-user functionality of the corporate OS. XP even adds some new wrinkles as to how multiple users are handled, so that it's easier than ever to share one PC among several people.