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Logging into Your Account
Overview
Both Mac OS X and Windows XP are designed to be multi-user operating systems with each user having separate environments on a system to store files, run applications, etc. Before one user can access their user account, they must log in by verifying their user name and password. This ensures that only those with the proper identification are able to login into an account and access its contents.
Each operating system can be configured to automatically log a user in (if only one user is set up on the system). They can also both be configured with a "Welcome Screen," where you select your user account from a list of other users and type in your password. Or you they can be configured to not display a list of user accounts at all requiring users to type in both their user name and password. Making a person type both their user name and password offers stronger security.
Also, user accounts on OS X and XP can be setup with no password protection at all. Logging in is as simple as clicking the appropriate user's account in the welcome screen. While this simplifies the login process, it sacrafices security for ease of use and leaves a user and their environment vulnerable to unauthorized access.
Mac OS X:
By default OS X automatically logs you in as the primary user of the computer. As soon as you begin adding more users to your computer, OS X asks if you still want to be automatically logged in as the primary user at startup or if you want to just display a the login screen. If you disable automatic login, OS X brings you directly to the login screen at startup.
There's no equivalent to XP's secure logon feature which requires you to press a specific key sequence before you even see the login screen.
Furthermore, if you type your password wrong, the login window doesn't display an error message. Instead it shakes and resets itself. This is supposed to be Apple's minimalistic way of providing feedback which lets users know that they need to try again. But I feel this is nothing more than eye candy that really isn't obvious to a novice user that they entered the wrong password and/or user name and need to try again. A written confirmation dialog box that the login information was incorrect would be a lot clearer.
Windows XP:
XP While XP does support automatic login at startup of users, an update to Microsoft .NET framework has made changed how this works. But here are some instructions on how to configure Windows XP to automatically login.
XP can be configured to display a message box that requires you to press Ctrl-Alt-Delete before you can log in along with a brief sentence, "This makes your computer more secure." This optional "secure logon" screen can be disabled in the Control Panel by going to User Accounts > Advanced unless you're a corporate user and your IT department locks down that feature by making it mandatory.
Check the box to enable XP's secure logon
Microsoft says that the 'Ctrl-Alt-Delete' sequence is "guaranteed" to always bring you to THE official Windows login screen. This is because Windows has been historically extremely vulnerable to viruses that could take over the boot sequence and steal your login information.
One persistent reader pointed out to me that this "guaranteed login" would be a very good thing in certain environments. Let's say you're in a school lab sitting down at a computer and typing your username and password into the login box on the screen in front of you. How do you know that that screen isn't just an application running on that computer and made to resemble a login screen, whose sole purpose is to capture your password and email it to somebody?
When typing a password incorrectly, XP displays a message actually stating your login details were incorrect. This is a lot clearer to the user than OS X's shaking login box.
Though I'll never lose any sleep over the lack of a Ctrl-Alt-Delete login guarantee on OS X, I can appreciate the fact that such a level of security is important in certain environments.
Handling Caps Lock Key
When logging in to your computer, operating system manufacturers discovered that one of the biggest usability problems people had when logging in was that they didn't realize their caps lock key was depressed. Passwords are case-sensitive and since password keystrokes are hidden, people were typing their password over and over, not realizing that the system wasn't logging them in because of the caps lock key.
Each operating system uses a different approach to notify you when the caps lock key is depressed during login
Mac OS X:
OS X notifies you if your caps lock key is depressed when typing your password to log in to your Account via a "caps lock" icon (an arrow with a line under it). Nowhere in Apple hardware or software printed documentation do they let you know what this icon means, and it is not easily found in online documentation either. So if you don't already know that an upward facing arrow with a line under it is the symbol for the caps lock key then the notification is meaningless to you.
That arrow is supposed to tell me that my caps lock key is pressed down?
Apple seems to recognize the obscurity of that symbol, as they explain it in subsequent dialogs:
It's a shame they don't do this directly in the User Account Log In screen.
Windows XP:
XP notifies you via a tool tip to let you know when your Caps Lock key is depressed when typing your password to log in to your Account. This tool tip will also occur with any authentication dialog box, including web site login dialogs.
Can't get much clearer than that!
Fast User Switching
Fast User Switching allows other users to log into their accounts while other users are logged in at the same time. Other users don't have to log out their work environment without quitting the programs currently running, allowing other users to log in and run their own programs simultaneously. For instance if one person wants to hop on the home computer to look at his email without seriously disturbing the other person, he can do that with Fast User Switching.
Fast User Switching is a feature that allows one user to stay logged in without quitting their running applications their applications running while another user logs into their own account and runs applications. For instance, if one user wants to quickly print out a document located in their account while someone else is logged in and working in their account. Fast User Switching allows the one user to quickly log into their account without seriously disturbing the other user. The other user's account remains open in the background waiting to be logged back into.
Mac OS X:
Fast user switching is disabled by default. To turn it on, launch System Preferences and go to Users > Login Options > Enable Fast User Switching . This will display a warning that it is not entirely secure and should only be used if you trust the other users on the computer. A menu will then appear in the upper right corner of the menu bar.
The fast user switching menu allows you to quickly switch to another user account
Owners of Quartz Extreme capable Macs will be treated to a "flipping cube" transition when switching users
The cube effect is one of those things that just can't be demonstrated in a screenshot like above. You need to see it with your own eyes. Apple's website has a video of fast user switching on OS X in action complete with the cube effect.
OS X's login screen does not display how many applications a user has currently running or how many unread emails they have. Selecting "Login Window" from the Fast User Switching menu locks the screen and brings up the initial login screen.
There's a check mark next to each user who is logged in
OS X allows users running the same operating system to have completely different internationalizations configured. So, for instance, one user can be running OS X in English and another user can be running OS X in Japanese. This is great for multilingual families.
OS X supports a number of items that can be customized per user that XP does not. We discuss these items in our managing user accounts comparison, thereby allowing each user account to be more tailored to that user.
Windows XP:
Users in XP (Home and Pro) can use Fast User Switching as long as they're not connected to a Windows 2000 domain. A nice feature about XP's implementation compared to OS X's is that the login screen will display how many programs one user has open. It will also display how many unread emails are in your inbox.
This is a nice feature because if all you wanted to do is check your email, just go to the login screen. You can instantly tell whether or not you have received any new e-mail.
Locking the Screen
Locking the screen is a security method used to restrict access to temporarily restrict access to a computer system. A user can lock the screen without having to log out of their account. By locking the screen, the user will have to type their password to gain access back to their account.
Mac OS X:
- Select Login Window from the Fast User Switching menu (Fast User Switching must be enabled)
- Lock Screen from the Menu Bar icon (To add this icon launch the Keychain Access application and go to
Keychain Access > Preferences > General > Show Status in Menu Bar) - Require password when waking from sleep or screen saver. Launch System Preferences and go to
Security > Require Password when waking from sleep(combine with "Exposé Hot Corners" to instantly lock the screen by dragging your mouse to a specified corner) - Automatically log out after x minutes of inactivity (also in in System Preferences> Security)
- Bluetooth device proximity screen locking (with the shareware Salling Clicker)
Windows XP:
- Type WINDOWS + L to lock
- Type Ctrl-Alt-Del then press Enter to lock (you must have the welcome screen enabled for this to work, otherwise type Ctrl-Alt-Del, then select Shutdown or Switch User )
- Set the screen saver to protect (no way to manually initiate the screen saver)
- Launch the Control Panel and go to
Power Options > Advanced > Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby.
XP users wanting to walk away from their computer need to either type Windows-L (if the keyboard has a Windows key) or close the lid (if it's a laptop).
OS X users can drag their mouse into a sleep corner. While typing Windows-L on keyboards with a Windows Key is arguably no more difficult than dragging your mouse to a corner, it requires that your keyboard have a Windows key (most Thinkpads don't: the T23, T30 and X30 don't). Thinkpad users who want a key sequence to lock the screen (they could just close their lid) can type Ctrl-Esc, l, s to lock the screen.
Conclusion
Both OS X and XP handle the task of logging into user accounts admirably. Each operating system could learn a few things from the other.
OS X:
- Can configure there to be a primary user account that automatically logs in at startup
- Users can run separate internationalizations running at the same time
- No obvious feedback when entering incorrect login information or caps lock key is depressed
- No equivalent to XP's secure logon feature requiring you to press a specific key sequence at startup in order to display the login screen
- No clear feedback when entering incorrect login details
- Fast User Switching screen does not display number of unread emails or running applications
XP:
- The secure logon feature requires you press Ctrl-Alt-Delte at startup in order to display the login screen
- Fast User Switching screen displays number of unread emails and running applications
- Clear feedback when entering incorrect login details or caps lock key is depressed.
- Fast User Switching not available when connected to a Windows 2000 domain
- Users must all run the same internationalization even if only one user is logged in
Mac OS X: 7
Windows XP: 8