One feature I have been thinking about recently has been fast user switching.
Currently, in order to switch user, one needs to go through a process of clicking “switch user”, then selecting the target user, then log in.
While this is understandable when password is the only method of logging in, but what if you have a finger print reader instead?
This is where the idea of “fast user switch” comes into play. Below are the steps
- Another user takes seat at the computer
- This user utilizes the finger print reader
- GNOME matches the fingerprint to this users account.
- GNOME creates a popup, asking for confirmation to swap users.
Note, The reason for this step is to ensure that a user cannot snap another user off the PC by simply clicking the finger print reader. - User either uses the mouse to click “confirm” or presses the “space bar”/“enter” key or presses “escape” or clicks “cancel” to dismiss the “fast user switch” dialog.
- A. User confirms, automatically unlock user account and animate transition between desktops.
B. User denies, dismiss dialog and return to workflow.
While this does not benefit single user computers at all, family computers greatly benefit from being able to quickly swap between family members.