Apple did a superb job with its new Fast User Switching feature in Panther (Mac OS X 10.3), but for users with long names, the associated menu item is a terrible waste of precious Menu Bar real estate. WinSwitch fixes that and brings a number of other powerful features that are not available on other Panther or Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4).

Wouldn't it be nice if you could access the feature through a compact, icon-sized Menu Bar icon? WinSwitch does exactly that, closely matching the performance and style of the Apple-provided menu, but without all the bulk. WinSwitch gives you rapid access to the Accounts preference pane, and is completely customizable, allowing you to choose from six different menu bar styles.

You can also optionally include the all-powerful "root" user in the list of users displayed in the menu, auto-launch documents, applications or scripts on switching to and from other users, define a hot key to drop back to the login window, or tweak the display size of your user pictures (both in the menu bar and inside the menu itself) to your liking.

WinSwitch is freeware. However, if you enjoy using WinSwitch and would like to help support its development, please consider making a donation.

Requirements:
OS X 10.3-10.5
Universal Binary