diff --git a/lib/matchers/matchers.rb b/lib/matchers/matchers.rb
index 430b3cdf8..739f91b5a 100644
--- a/lib/matchers/matchers.rb
+++ b/lib/matchers/matchers.rb
@@ -124,6 +124,8 @@ RSpec::Matchers.define :be_enabled do
   end
 end
 
+# service resource matcher for serverspec compatibility
+# Deprecated: You should not use this matcher anymore
 RSpec::Matchers.define :be_running do
   match do |service|
     service.running? == true
@@ -137,3 +139,29 @@ RSpec::Matchers.define :be_running do
     "expected that `#{service}` is running"
   end
 end
+
+# user resource matcher for serverspec compatibility
+# Deprecated: You should not use this matcher anymore
+RSpec::Matchers.define :belong_to_group do |compare_group|
+  match do |user|
+    warn "[DEPRECATION] `belong_to_group` is deprecated.  Please use `its(:groups) { should include('root') }` instead."
+    user.groups.include?(compare_group)
+  end
+
+  failure_message do |group|
+    "expected that the user belongs to group `#{group}`"
+  end
+end
+
+# user resource matcher for serverspec compatibility
+# Deprecated: You should not use this matcher anymore
+RSpec::Matchers.define :belong_to_primary_group do |compare_group|
+  match do |user|
+    warn "[DEPRECATION] `belong_to_primary_group` is deprecated.  Please use `its(:group) { should eq 'root' }` instead."
+    user.group == compare_group
+  end
+
+  failure_message do |group|
+    "expected that the user belongs to primary group `#{group}`"
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/resources/user.rb b/lib/resources/user.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c4ae6661a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/resources/user.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,233 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+# author: Christoph Hartmann
+
+# Usage:
+#
+# describe user('root') do
+#   it { should exist }
+#   its(:uid) { should eq 0 }
+#   its(:gid) { should eq 0 }
+#   its(:group) { should eq 'root' }
+#   its(:groups) { should eq ['root', 'wheel']}
+#   its(:home) { should eq '/root' }
+#   its(:shell) { should eq '/bin/bash' }
+#   its(:mindays) { should eq 0 }
+#   its(:maxdays) { should eq 99 }
+#   its(:warndays) { should eq 5 }
+# end
+#
+# The following  Serverspec  matchers are deprecated in favor for direct value access
+#
+# describe user('root') do
+#   it { should belong_to_group 'root' }
+#   it { should have_uid 0 }
+#   it { should have_home_directory '/root' }
+#   it { should have_login_shell '/bin/bash' }
+#   its(:minimum_days_between_password_change) { should eq 0 }
+#   its(:maximum_days_between_password_change) { should eq 99 }
+# end
+
+# ServerSpec tests that are not supported:
+#
+# describe user('root') do
+#   it { should have_authorized_key 'ssh-rsa ADg54...3434 user@example.local' }
+#   its(:encrypted_password) { should eq 1234 }
+# end
+
+class User < Vulcano.resource(1)
+  name 'user'
+
+  def initialize(user)
+    @user = user
+
+    # select package manager
+    @user_provider = nil
+    case vulcano.os[:family]
+    when 'ubuntu', 'debian', 'redhat', 'fedora', 'arch'
+      @user_provider = LinuxUser.new(vulcano)
+    when 'darwin'
+      @user_provider = DarwinUser.new(vulcano)
+    else
+      return skip_resource 'The `package` resource is not supported on your OS yet.'
+    end
+  end
+
+  def exists?
+    !@user_provider.identity(@user).nil?
+  end
+
+  def uid
+    id = @user_provider.identity(@user)
+    id.nil? ? nil : id[:uid]
+  end
+
+  def gid
+    id = @user_provider.identity(@user)
+    id.nil? ? nil : id[:gid]
+  end
+
+  def group
+    id = @user_provider.identity(@user)
+    id.nil? ? nil : id[:group]
+  end
+
+  def groups
+    id = @user_provider.identity(@user)
+    id.nil? ? nil : id[:groups]
+  end
+
+  def home
+    meta = @user_provider.meta_info(@user)
+    meta.nil? ? nil : meta[:home]
+  end
+
+  def shell
+    meta = @user_provider.meta_info(@user)
+    meta.nil? ? nil : meta[:shell]
+  end
+
+  # returns the minimum days between password changes
+  def mindays
+    nil
+  end
+
+  # returns the maximum days between password changes
+  def maxdays
+    nil
+  end
+
+  # returns the days for password change warning
+  def warndays
+    nil
+  end
+
+  # implement 'mindays' method to be compatible with serverspec
+  def minimum_days_between_password_change
+    deprecated('minimum_days_between_password_change', "Please use 'its(:mindays)'")
+    mindays
+  end
+
+  # implement 'maxdays' method to be compatible with serverspec
+  def maximum_days_between_password_change
+    deprecated('maximum_days_between_password_change', "Please use 'its(:maxdays)'")
+    maxdays
+  end
+
+  # implements rspec has matcher, to be compatible with serverspec
+  # @see: https://github.com/rspec/rspec-expectations/blob/master/lib/rspec/matchers/built_in/has.rb
+  def has_uid?(compare_uid)
+    deprecated('has_uid?')
+    uid == compare_uid
+  end
+
+  def has_home_directory?(compare_home)
+    deprecated('has_home_directory?', "Please use 'its(:home)'")
+    home == compare_home
+  end
+
+  def has_login_shell?(compare_shell)
+    deprecated('has_login_shell?', "Please use 'its(:shell)'")
+    shell == compare_shell
+  end
+
+  def has_authorized_key?(_compare_key)
+    deprecated('has_authorized_key?')
+    fail NotImplementedError
+  end
+
+  def deprecated(name, alternative = nil)
+    warn "[DEPRECATION] #{name} is deprecated. #{alternative}"
+  end
+
+  def to_s
+    "user #{@user}"
+  end
+end
+
+class UserInfo
+  def initialize(vulcano)
+    @vulcano = vulcano
+  end
+end
+
+# implements generic unix id handling
+class UnixUser < UserInfo
+  # parse one id entry like '0(wheel)''
+  def parse_value(line)
+    # TODO: move line seperation to simple config
+    line = line.tr(',', "\n")
+    SimpleConfig.new(
+      line,
+      assignment_re: /^\s*([^\(]*?)\s*\(\s*(.*?)\)*$/,
+      group_re: nil,
+      multiple_values: false,
+    ).params
+  end
+
+  # convert the value to an integer if we have numbers only
+  # otherwise we return the string
+  def convert_to_i(val)
+    val = val.to_i if val.match(/^\d+$/)
+    val
+  end
+
+  # extracts the identity
+  def identity(username)
+    # TODO: catch errors, where we do not get data
+    cmd = @vulcano.run_command("id #{username}")
+    return nil if cmd.exit_status != 0
+
+    raw = cmd.stdout.chomp
+    raw = raw.tr(' ', "\n")
+
+    # parse words
+    params = SimpleConfig.new(
+      raw,
+      assignment_re: /^\s*([^=]*?)\s*=\s*(.*?)\s*$/,
+      group_re: nil,
+      multiple_values: false,
+    ).params
+
+    {
+      uid: convert_to_i(parse_value(params['uid']).keys[0]),
+      user: parse_value(params['uid']).values[0],
+      gid: convert_to_i(parse_value(params['gid']).keys[0]),
+      group: parse_value(params['gid']).values[0],
+      groups: parse_value(params['groups']).values,
+    }
+  end
+end
+
+class LinuxUser < UnixUser
+  def meta_info
+    {
+      home: nil,
+      shell: nil,
+    }
+  end
+end
+
+# we do not use 'finger' for MacOS, because it is harder to parse data with it
+# @see https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man8/fingerd.8.html
+# instead we use 'dscl' to request user data
+# @see https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man1/dscl.1.html
+# @see http://superuser.com/questions/592921/mac-osx-users-vs-dscl-command-to-list-user
+class DarwinUser < UnixUser
+  def meta_info(username)
+    cmd = @vulcano.run_command("dscl -q . -read /Users/#{username} NFSHomeDirectory PrimaryGroupID RecordName UniqueID UserShell")
+    return nil if cmd.exit_status != 0
+
+    # TODO: catch cases where user does not exists
+    params = SimpleConfig.new(
+      cmd.stdout.chomp,
+      assignment_re: /^\s*([^:]*?)\s*:\s*(.*?)\s*$/,
+      group_re: nil,
+      multiple_values: false,
+    ).params
+
+    {
+      home: params['NFSHomeDirectory'],
+      shell: params['UserShell'],
+    }
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/vulcano/resource.rb b/lib/vulcano/resource.rb
index f259f574c..6946aeb63 100644
--- a/lib/vulcano/resource.rb
+++ b/lib/vulcano/resource.rb
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ require 'resources/registry_key'
 require 'resources/security_policy'
 require 'resources/service'
 require 'resources/ssh_conf'
+require 'resources/user'
 require 'resources/windows_feature'
 require 'resources/yum'