Super-sweeper
It depends on the type of vacuum. On the Hoover Windtunnel Air Steerable, you have to plug in the hose each time you want to use it. You have to take the hose out of its holster, flip a door down and plug the hose into a port. When you want to go back to cleaning floors, you unplug the hose and holster it back into its holder. Probably not the best vacuum if you use attachments a lot.
On some other vacuums, such as the Eureka AirSpeed series, there is a suction diverter on the side of the vacuum. It has to be turned from "floors" to "tools" when using the hose and attachments. I think this diverter allows the suction to be more direct, and more powerful, due to the AirSpeed technology. However, one has to remember to flip the diverter back to "floors" when finished with the hose!
On a canister vacuum, it's a different story. With uprights, I'm used to rolling the vacuum out of the closet, plugging it in and turning it on. Now, with a canister, I have a few more steps, as the vacuum is stored in 3 pieces: Canister, hose, and power nozzle/wand unit. When I go to vacuum, I have to attach the hose to the canister and to the wand/power nozzle unit. When I'm finished, I disconnect the hose from both ends to make the machine fit in my closet.
I would much rather have a vacuum where you just pull the hose out, attach your desired tool(s) and vacuum away. When finished, just store the tool(s) and put the hose back into the suction opening. Simple as that.