The consumer release version of Android 4.2 just hit our review devices, and I had to dive in and check out multiple user accounts on the Nexus 10. It's been in the works since Honeycomb, and quite a few of us are looking forward to being able to share one device with our significant other, or with our kids, or anyone. All without the privacy concern of letting them have access to your Google credentials.
I'm not sure just what we were expecting (myself included), but the process was super simple. You can add and remove users at will, and the whole process only takes a minute or two.
According to the information we have, each user gets their own space for their own apps, desktop customizations, Google account, and just about every personal setting that would apply. Of course some global settings -- for example Wifi settings or app permission updates -- are global, but for the most part it seems a lot like switching users on your computer at home.
Our devices aren't yet rooted (I did unlock but had to stay ready for the OTA -- that will change shortly) so I can't really dive into the data folder and see how things are separated. The good news is that with the Nexus 10 secure and not rooted, there's no way I can get to the settings and data of the other account. Of course, all this goes out the window once you break security and root.
Enough talk. Hit the break and see how simple it is to add and remove users, and the easy way to switch users and login.
For a better look at the dialogs and what they say, here's a few images grabbed during the process.
