Section 12.1. Introducing Accounts

12.1. Introducing Accounts

Like the Unix under its skin (and also like Windows XP and Windows 2000), Mac OS X is designed from the ground up to be a multiple- user operating system. A Mac OS X machine can be configured so that everyone must log in click or type her name and type in a passwordwhen the computer turns on. And you're doing so, you discover the Macintosh universe just as you left it, which includes these elements:

  • Your documents, files, and folders

  • Your preference settings in every program you use; Web browser bookmarks; desktop picture; screen saver; language choice; icons on the desktop and in the Dock; and so on

  • Email accounts, including personal information and mailboxes.

  • Your personally installed programs and fonts.

  • Your choice of programs that launch automatically at startup.

If you're the only person who uses your Mac, you can safely skip this chapter. The Mac will never ask you for the name and password you made up when you installed Mac OS X, because Apple's installer automatically turns on something called automatic login (Section 12.4). You will be using one of these accounts, though, whether you realize it or not.

Furthermore, when you're stuck in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles, you may find the concepts presented here worth skimming, as certain elements of this multiple-user operating system may intrude upon your solo activitiesand the discussions in this bookfrom time to time.


Tip: Even if you don't share your Mac with anyone and don't create any other accounts, you might still be tempted to learn about this feature because of its ability to password-protect the entire computer. All you have to do is to turn off the automatic login feature described on Section 12.4. Thereafter, your Mac is protected from unauthorized fiddling when you're away from your desk or when your laptop is stolen.

Figure 12-1. When you set up several accounts, you don't turn on the Mac so much as sign into it. A command in the menu called Log Out summons this sign-in screen. Click your own name and then type your password to get past this box and into your own stuff.


12.1.1. The First Account

The first time you turn on a Mac OS X Mac (or install Mac OS X), the screen asks you for a name and password. You may not have realized it at the time, but you were creating the first user account on your Macintosh. Since that fateful day, you may have made a number of changes to your Mac's appearanceadjusted the Dock settings, set up your folders and desktop the way you like them, added some favorites to your Web browser, and so onwithout realizing that you were actually making these changes only to your account .

You've probably been saving your documents into your own Home folder, which is the cornerstone of your account. This folder, generally named after you and stashed in the Users folder on your hard drive, stores not only your work, but also your preference settings for all the programs you use, special fonts that you've installed, your own email collection, and so on.

Now then: Suppose you create an account for a second person. When she turns on the computer and signs in, she'll find the desktop exactly the way it was factory-in-stalled by Appleblue swirling desktop picture, Dock along the bottom, the default Web browser home page, and so on. She can make the same kinds of changes to the Mac that you've made, but nothing she does will affect your environment the next time you log in.

In other words, the multiple-accounts feature has two components : first, a convenience element that hides everyone else's junk; and second, a security element that protects both the Mac's system software and everybody's work.

All of this works much the same way it does in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. There are just a few differences, as explained on the following pages.

12.1.2. Administrator vs. Standard Accounts

If you like the idea of this multiple-accounts business, begin by opening System Preferences (Chapter 13). In the System Preferences window, click Accounts.

The screen shown in Figure 12-2 appears, displaying the list of everyone who has an account. If you're new at this, there's probably just one account listed here: yours. This is the account that Mac OS X created when you first installed it.

12.1.3. Administrator Accounts

It's important to understand the phrase you see in the Kind column. On your own personal Mac, it probably says Admin next to your name. This, as you could probably guess, stands for Administrator.

Because you're the person who installed Mac OS X to begin with, the Mac assumes that you are its administratorthe technical wizard who's in charge of it. Only an administrator is allowed to:

  • Install new programs into the Applications folder.

  • Add fonts that everybody can use.

  • Make changes to certain System Preferences panes (including Network, Date & Time, Energy Saver, Login, and Startup Disk).

  • Create new folders outside of your Home folder.

  • Decide who gets to have accounts on the Mac.

  • Open , change, or delete anyone else's files (Section 15.2.4).

The notion of administrators is an important one. For one thing, you'll find certain settings all over Mac OS X that you can change only if you're an administratorincluding many in the Accounts panel itself (see Figure 12-2). For another thing, administrator status plays an enormous role when you want to network your Mac to other kinds of computers.

Figure 12-2. The screen lists everyone for whom you've created an account. From here, you can create new accounts or change passwords. Notice the padlock icon at the bottom. Its appearance indicates settings that only administrators are allowed to changeafter clicking the padlock and identifying themselves by password.


As you create accounts for other people who'll use this Mac, you'll be offered the opportunity to make each one an administrator just like you. Needless to say, use discretion. Bestow these powers only upon people as responsible and technically masterful as you.

12.1.4. Standard Accounts

Anyone who isn't an administrator is probably an ordinary Standard account holder (Figure 12-2). These people have everyday access to their own Home folders and to some of System Preferences, but most other areas of the Mac are off-limits. Mac OS X won't even let them create new folders on the main hard drive, except inside their own Home folders (or in the Shared folder described later).

A few of the System Preferences panes contain a padlock icon like the one in Figure 12-2. If you're a Standard account holder, you can't make changes to these settings without the assistance of an administrator. Fortunately, you aren't required to log out so that an administrator can log in and make changes. You can just call the administrator over, click the padlock icon, and let him type in his name and passwordif, indeed, he feels comfortable with you making the changes you're about to make.

12.1.5. Creating an Account

To create a new account, start by unlocking the Accounts panel. That is, click the little padlock at the lower-left, and fill in your own account name and password.

Now you can click the + button beneath the list of accounts. The little panel shown in Figure 12-3 appears.

Figure 12-3. Mac OS X offers a long list of options for each account, as described on the following pages. None of it is difficult. Some of it, in fact, is kind of fun. But it all starts with this no- nonsense panel.


12.1.5.1. Phase 1: Name, password, and status

In this starter sheet, you'll fill in the most critical information about the new account holder.

  • Name . If it's just the family, this could be Chris or Robin. If it's a corporation or school, you'll probably want to use both first and last names .

  • Short Name . You'll quickly discover the value of having a short namean abbreviation of your actual nameparticularly if your name is, say, Alexandra Stephonopolous. When you sign into your Mac in person, you can use either your long or short name. When you access this Mac by dialing into it or connecting from across the network (as described in the next chapter), the short variation is all you need.

    As soon as you tab into this field, the Mac proposes a short name for you. You can replace the suggestion with whatever you like, as long as it doesn't have punctuation marks.

  • Password, Verify . Here's where you type this new account holder's password (Figure 12-3). In fact, you're supposed to type it twice, to make sure you didn't introduce a typo the first time. (The Mac displays only dots as you type, to guard against the possibility that somebody is watching over your shoulder.)

    The usual computer book takes this opportunity to stress the importance of a long, complex passworda phrase that isn't in the dictionary, something made up of mixed letters and numbers . This is excellent advice if you create sensitive documents and work in a big corporation.

    But if you share the Mac only with a spouse or a few trusted colleagues in a small office, you may have nothing to hide. You may see the multiple-users feature more as a convenience (keeping your settings and files separate) than a protector of secrecy and security. In these situations, there's no particular urgency to the mission of thwarting the world's hackers with a convoluted password.

    In that case, you may want to consider setting up no passwordleaving both password blanks empty. Later, whenever you're asked for your password, just leave the Password box blank. You'll be able to log in that much faster each day.

  • Password Hint . If you gave yourself a password, you can leave yourself a hint in this box. Later, if you ever forget your password, the Mac will show you this cue to jog your memory (if this option is turned on, as described on Section 12.5).

  • Allow user to administer this computer . This checkbox is the most important item here. It's the master switch that turns this ordinary, unsuspecting computer user into an administrator, as described above.

When you finish setting up these essential items, click Create Account. (If you left the password boxes empty, the Mac asks for reassurance that you know what you're doing; click OK.)

You now return to the Accounts pane, where you see the new account name in the list at the left side.

12.1.5.2. Phase 2: Choose a picture

The usual Mac OS X sign-in screen (Figure 12-1) displays each account holder's name, accompanied by a little picture.

On the Picture tab, you can choose a little graphic for yourself. It becomes not only your icon on the sign-in screen, but also your "card" photo in Mac OS X's Address Book program, and your icon in iChat.

If you like the selections that Apple has provided at the right side of the window (drag the scroll bar to see them all), just click one to select it. If you'd rather supply your own graphics filea digital photo of your own head, for examplefollow one of these paths:

  • Drag the graphics file directly into the "picture well" (Figure 12-4). Use the resulting Images window to frame your picture.

  • Click the Edit button. In the Images dialog box that appears, click Choose. You're shown a list of what's on your hard drive so you can select an image file.

  • If you have an iSight camera (or a digital camcorder) hooked up to your FireWire jack, click Edit. Use the resulting Images window to frame yourself, and then click the Take Video Snapshot button.

Figure 12-4. Once you've selected a photo to represent yourself (left), you can adjust its position relative to the square "frame" (right), or adjust its size by dragging the slider. Finally, when the picture looks correctly framed, click Set. (The next time you return to the Images dialog box, you can recall the new image using the Recent Pictures pop-up menu.)


12.1.5.3. Phase 3: Login Items

There's one additional System Preferences setting that your account holders can set up for themselves: which programs or documents open automatically upon login. (This is one decision an administrator can't make for other people. It's available only to whoever is logged in at the moment.)

To choose your own crew of self-starters, open System Preferences and click the Accounts icon. Click the Login Items tab. As shown in Figure 12-5, you can now build a list of programs, documents, disks, and other goodies that will automatically launch each time you log in. You can even turn on the Hide checkbox for each one, so that the corresponding program is running in the background at login time, waiting to be called into service with a quick click.

Don't feel obligated to limit this list to programs and documents. Disks, folders, servers on the network, and other fun icons can also be startup items, so that their windows are open and waiting when you arrive at the Mac each morning.


Tip: To quickly add something to the Login Items list, just Control-click (or right-click) its Dock icon and choose "Open at Login" from the shortcut menu.

Figure 12-5. You can add any icon to the list of things you want to start up automatically. Click the + button to summon the Open dialog box, where you can find the icon, select it, and then click Choose. Better yet, if you can see the icon of a folder or disk window, just drag it into this list. To remove an item, click it in the list and then click the button.




Switching to the Mac[c] The Missing Manual
Switching to the Mac[c] The Missing Manual
ISBN: 1449398537
EAN: N/A
Year: 2006
Pages: 371

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