Home Networking: The Missing Manual

Appendix B. Multiple User Accounts in Mac OS 9

Mac OS 9 was the first version of the Mac OS to support Multiple User accounts: the tidy and secure system in which every account holder who logs onto a computer gets his own distinct version of files, folders, settings, and so on.

Unlike the File Sharing accounts you learned about back in Chapter 6, Multiple User accounts don't have any influence over what happens when visitors tap into a Mac from across the network. Multiple User accounts only control what happens when different people log on, in person, to the same computer. (Geeks call that local access, versus the remote access that takes place when you log on from across the network.) Still, these Multiple User accounts are useful to know about, and this Appendix will give you a quick introduction to these kinds of accounts in Mac OS 9.

Note

In Mac OS X, Multiple User accounts and File Sharing accounts were (thankfully) merged. In Mac OS X, your user account takes care of both your local access and your remote access needs.

Creating a New Multiple User Account

Mac OS 9 doesn't automatically start you out with Multiple User accounts. You've first got to flip a virtual switch on your computer to activate the account system. To do so open

→ Control Panels → Multiple Users and click the On button at the bottom of the dialog box (Figure B-1).

To create a new account, click the New User button. ...