TMC Travel Tips: Multiply Your Mobile Mac
There are times when you're on the road that having more than one Mac would be a great benefit. Cost and weight make that impractical in most cases. But you can do the next best thing: multiply your mobile Mac.
Split Personalities in X
When Mac OS X first came it, one of the concepts that many users had difficulty in understanding was the idea of multiple user accounts. For those who share computers with significant others, co-workers or family members the benefits of this feature quickly became obvious.
But why would you need more than one account if they didn't share their machine? Further, why would a Road Warrior care? He/she doesn't share their Mac, their most important tool when they're away from the office.
I keep not one, not two, but three different accounts on my PowerBook, for three specific situations for what I do. You may want to adopt this model or find one that works for you, but having just one account is so...Mac OS 9, and in today's competitive environment, that just isn't an option.
User 1: My Working Environment
This one is the obvious, and where I spend most of my time, whether in the office or in a parking lot hours (or days) away. My email, scheduling, contact and production apps are all here; a variety of third-party Preference Panes customize the working environment, the dock is crammed with all the programs I need regular access to, and the desktop is strewn with all sorts of items that I want in easy reach. It seems that alarms are constantly popping up from iCal and Palm Desktop, icons are bouncing in the dock, drawers slide out from the side of the screen and more. Not the neatest environment, but it suits the way I manage multiple projects and work. However, I don't want everyone seeing all of that, both for appearance and security's sake.
User 2: My Presentation Environment
If I'm sitting with a client, either hooked to a projector or just going through documents with someone looking over my shoulder, having the working environment described above isn't going to project a very professional image. An iCal reminder can ruin the presentation that took a week to put together, and if it is of a personal nature or, worse, references a competitor...well, you get the picture.
Having an environment that you can switch to when interruptions can't be tolerated is a perfect use of a second user account. All applications are available, but the dock is kept clean, the desktop pristine, and anything that could pop up unexpectedly is religiously disabled. Screensaver and screen dimming are turned off so that a slide doesn't suddenly disappear during an extended discussion, and the sound is turned off unless it is specifically needed, and the only files kept in this user account are those specifically needed for whatever client or project is being dealt with at the time.
User 3: The Virgin User
The third user isn't exactly a new concept, but it is worth repeating. Anyone versed in troubleshooting Mac OS X will tell you that having one user where there is nothing installed, preferably with all default settings left intact, is a good idea. This gives you a completely clean environment to compare to your others. If an application won't open in your working environment but will in your virgin account, you can start narrowing down what might be doing wrong. Can't connect to the internet in your presentation account? You'll have a better chance to find out if it is a hardware or software problem if you can test it out at default settings.
Set-Up
The best thing about the multiple accounts is that you can have two or more open at any given moment, and move between them with Fast User Switching. No restart necessary, no waiting for applications to close or having to reopen them once you've left the client, no having to reset your working environment - just switch accounts.
Hard Drive Real Estate
Setting up multiple user accounts also doesn't take up huge amounts of drive space unless you start creating documents in each one and then forget about them. Take a couple minutes to set up a minimal browser cache and history in other than your working account so hard drive space isn't being used up to store information that you will rarely, if ever, need and don't forget to manage the files you put in our other accounts.
To find out just how much hard drive overhead a new user can take, do a "Get Info" on your hard drive, note the available and used space, then create a new account. You might be surprised at how little those numbers change with one or two new accounts created.
Hiring & Firing
These are just some ideas of how multiple user accounts can benefit the Road Warrior. Separate accounts for special projects, testing accounts for new or beta software, accounts optimized for particular activities and more can easily be "hired" by visiting the "Accounts" preference pane and creating a new user. Another trip to "Accounts" will let you "fire" a user with a click when it has outlived its usefulness.
The Bottom Line
Effective use of multiple user accounts isn't quite the same as having multiple Macs at your command, but it is cheaper, lighter, easier to manage, and comes close. While useful for desktop Mac users, they are one of the best features of Mac OS X for Road Warriors. Try them out for yourself.
