Mac OS® X Leopard™ Bible

Chapter 18. Managing User Accounts and Privileges

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Identifying types of user accounts

• Configuring account preferences

• Enabling Parental Controls

• Administering privileges using Show Info

This chapter examines the types of user accounts in Mac OS X. You find out how to create, manage, and limit those user accounts, and how to assign privileges using Get Info.

Mac OS X and Privileges

As discussed in Chapter 1, Mac OS X is Apple's first true multiuser desktop operating system. Because of its Unix underpinnings, Mac OS X provides the ability to employ a Unix-style security model. In Mac OS X, each user is provided with his or her own user account. Each user account provides a separate customizable environment. An example of this is that each user account contains its own home folder in which to save its documents. Additionally, each user account can be customized with its own preference settings. For example, your Appearance preferences such as your desktop picture don't affect other users, and vice versa.

Central to Mac OS X's multiuser security model is the concept of privileges. Simply stated, privileges (which Unix folk refer to as permissions) provide the control mechanism for access to files, folders, and applications within Mac OS X. Because Mac OS X was designed for a single computer to be shared among many users, it requires a means to prevent one user's data from being accessed or deleted by another user, as well as preventing standard users from deleting files, folders, ...