locking Mac? - Like windows

Is it possible to lock/password protect your mac when you step away from it for a few mins?

E.g. on windows, you can hit ctrl+alt+del and lock computer which will only reactivate if a password is entered.

is there anything like this for the mac?

thanks

Use the screen saver.
To activate it imediately use an active screen corner via system preferences : expose & spacers

preferences.security.general tab choose require password to wake computer or from screen saver.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=mac/10.4/en/mh1618.html

Note especially:

If your computer has multiple users and you want more than one user to stay logged in at a time, select "Enable fast user switching" in the Accounts preferences. To lock your screen quickly with fast user switching enabled, choose Login Window from the menu with your username. You applications will remain open and undisturbed but your computer will be locked.

Click to expand...

None of these are really a quick tap a button and put a password on your computer though.

I would do the unlock from screensaver option, but I dont want it to lock all the time, only sometimes when I choose.

Instead of having to wait for the screen saver to come on or having to sleep it if you have something important up and you can't sleep it I just choose the option of Lock Screen. This is accessible if you bring up Keychain Access, go to preferences, check the 'show status in menu bar'. Quit (if you want) then from the menu bar click lock screen.
Putting the Keychain Access in the Menu Bar is the best option to lock a screen, I use it myself.

The reality is that this isn't Windows, and you aren't going to always be able to find a "Windows Way" of doing things... as well you shouldn't be looking for them anyway. There are going to be habits that you need to break and things that you are going to have to do differently... simple as that.
It is a new OS and there are things that take time getting used to.

D3v1L80Y said:

The reality is that this isn't Windows, and you aren't going to always be able to find a "Windows Way" of doing things... as well you shouldn't be looking for them anyway. There are going to be habits that you need to break and things that you are going to have to do differently... simple as that.
It is a new OS and there are things that take time getting used to.

Click to expand...

That's kind of an awkward comment, seeing as "being able to quickly lock the screen" isn't uniquely a Windows thing, nor is it some habit that requires breaking. Any corporate user, or someone who simply wants to keep their desktop free from prying eyes or random disturbances would want such an option, and any OS used in corporate environments has had this option for years. I could lock my screen in OS/2 with a mouse click 12 years ago.

Nicely said Zero. I could no agree more.....

S.SubZero said:

I could lock my screen in OS/2 with a mouse click 12 years ago.

Click to expand...

That's what putting Keychain Access in the Menu bar does.

S.SubZero said:

seeing as "being able to quickly lock the screen" isn't uniquely a Windows thing, nor is it some habit that requires breaking.

Click to expand...

No, the idea isn't unique to any one OS... what is unique is how one goes about achieving it... and this is where there are habits one must break, the main one being "thinking the Windows Way" of achieving something.
This is evident in the OP's reply, "None of these are really a quick tap a button and put a password on your computer though."

If you find the comment awkward, then you are likely still hanging on to an older OS's way of doing things. The process is sometimes quicker and easier, sometimes it is a little more involved.
Copy/Paste isn't the same, taking a screenshot isn't the same, getting your contextual menus isn't the same, etc... your new computer can do all of those things, but there are simply different ways of doing them. You need to break the habits you had with your old OS in order to learn a new one. It doesn't matter what the old or new one is.

Using the hot corners option, swiping my mouse to the upper left corner activates the screensaver. I've got my preferences set to always require a password to unlock. It's not quite CTRL+ALT+DEL or Windows+M, Windows+L, (Minimize, Lock) but it works.

Upper right brings the dashboard, lower left clears the screen(s), and lower right shows all open windows.

If you really want a keystroke, I'm sure you could set it up in quicksilver.

D3v1L80Y said:

Instead of having to wait for the screen saver to come on or having to sleep it if you have something important up and you can't sleep it I just choose the option of Lock Screen. This is accessible if you bring up Keychain Access, go to preferences, check the 'show status in menu bar'. Quit (if you want) then from the menu bar click lock screen.
Putting the Keychain Access in the Menu Bar is the best option to lock a screen, I use it myself.

The reality is that this isn't Windows, and you aren't going to always be able to find a "Windows Way" of doing things... as well you shouldn't be looking for them anyway. There are going to be habits that you need to break and things that you are going to have to do differently... simple as that.
It is a new OS and there are things that take time getting used to.

Click to expand...

You beat me to this one. I like this option much better than the screensaver option.

There is an automator script that will do this for you and you can put it right on your dock or hotkey it.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/automator/lockdesktop.html

I use deskshade, I have the shortcut set to Cmd+0, and viola! My desktop wallpaper with no icons, and a lock right in the middle

Below are the images (Click to enlarge)... the text is customizable.

thats good stuff. just trying the trial version.