Understanding User Account Types

Thursday, February 12 2009

User Accounts Click to see a larger image

Each Mac can have many user accounts on it. It is useful to have an account for each person who uses the computer.

Each account has its own home folder which in turn includes its own set of folders for saving files. A user can only see the documents and folders in their own home folder. This is why it is useful for each person to have their own user account: each person gets their own iPhoto library, iTunes library, Inbox, Documents folder, etc.

There are four kinds of user accounts:

• Administrator. An administrator account has the most privileges to make changes to the Mac. Each Mac must have at least one administrator account. The administrator account is usually for the primary user of the Mac or for the person who manages the Mac.
• Standard. A standard account can do anything inside of their home folder, but cannot make changes that affect the Mac as a whole. If a standard user tries to perform a function that would affect the Mac as a whole, they are required to enter an Administrator's account name and password. A standard account is normally given to someone who you want to be able to use your Mac, but you don't want them to be able to make system changes.
• Managed. A managed account has some Parental Controls turned on so that the account is restricted in its use. For example, you can manage the email addresses and iChat accounts that the user can interact with. A managed account is useful for children's accounts.
• Guest Account The Guest Account is a special account that you can enable for temporary users of your Mac. The Guest Account has no passwords, but also has limited access to the info on your Mac. To further restrict access, you can also set Parental Controls. The most important feature of the Guest Account, however, is that when the user logs out of the Guest Account, all files from the account are deleted and the Guest Account is reset as a fresh new account.

1. Go to System Preferences (from the Dock or the Apple menu) and choose the Accounts panel.
2. Click the padlock in the lower left hand corner. This will require that you authenticate with an administrator name and password.
3. Click the + button under the list of accounts.
4. Enter the account name, password and password hint and check the box if you want this user to be an administrator user.
5. The new account will be created. From there you can set the user picture and set parental controls if you wish.

See all the tips that pertain to User Accounts .

1 comments

Basics4Mac
http://basics4mac.com/article.php/user_account_types