Me and my four siblings all had our own accounts, indicated by user names and clip art graphics.
Then, when my sibling needed the gear, they logged into their account where their stuff was.
It worked then and it can still work now.
And yet most peoplemyself includedforget that this feature even still exists.
I pointed out they could have created separate user accountsthe thought hadn’t occurred to them.
A big part of this is that, at this point, most people have their own computers.
But there are times when it makes sense to share a computer.
Maybe you and your partner use desktop computers at home but share a laptop.
Maybe there’s a single gaming computer in your house used by multiple people.
Or maybe you’re traveling with someone and don’t want to carry multiple computers.
Whatever your reason for sharing your unit, the experience is a lot better with multiple accounts.
Adding more users is simple
Adding a new account to a computer isn’t hard.
On Windows 11 you could open theSettingsapp, clickAccountsin the left-hand sidebar, then click theAdd account.
From here you’re able to add a Microsoft account or a local one.
you’re able to choose a name, username, and password, then you’re done.
Each user can configure their desktop environment however they like without affecting the other user.
None of this is newit’s been offered on both the Mac and Windows environment since the 1990s.
It’s just kind of been forgotten.
There’s a problem, though: the iPad doesn’t support multiple user accounts.
This means that my wife sees my text notifications while playing games on the iPad.
It also means she can’t really check her email on the machine.
This is a shame.
Sharing devices in this way can reduce waste and save money.
Multiple user accounts on one equipment make sharing that equipment a lot smoother.
It would be nice if more people used the feature, and if more devices offered it.
