What is "Switch User" for?

Sometimes when you go to log off your Windows XP or Windows 7 computer, you may have seen the option to "switch user". Here's an example of how this option could be used: Let's suppose you are working on a big project on your family computer and you have several programs open simultaneously. Then your significant other comes along and says something like, "I'm expecting an important email today. Do you mind if I check my email quickly?"

Well, it might be a bit of a bummer to have to close down everything you're working on and the thought of having to find all your stuff again in ten minutes may seem like a big task. What to do? You won't need to shut anything down if you switch user. Switching user allows you to leave everything your working on open, and then "Switch User" to the other person's account so they check their stuff. Make sure they LOG OFF afterward and then you can log back onto your stuff and everything is still there.

Here are a couple of things to remember when using this option:
1. If you are downloading something, your downloads will pause while you switch users.
2. Your machine has a limited amount of resources; resources are being used for each "user" that is logged on. Therefore, it's important to have as few people logged on to the machine as possible.

What I have seen a few times when someone complains their machine is slow and I've been called as a tech to come investigate, is that there are several users (like 4 or more) all simultaniously logged on. I see the Welcome Screen with multiple users all indicating they are logged on. This happens when all these users have used the switch user option and then not logged off afterward. So it's important to LOG OFF when you are done to give back the resources to your machine.