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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Operating System
Administration Account vs Regular Account ?
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<blockquote data-quote="MartinS" data-source="post: 366467" data-attributes="member: 22279"><p>The idea of using a non-admin account is that every task you perform that has an effect on the system, such as installing a new app or making certain changes requires authentication by the administrator, which is probably you (ie, if it's your Mac and you're the only one who uses it).</p><p></p><p>When prompted to authenticate you just type in the admin account name and password, and the task is performed as normal.</p><p></p><p>When using an admin account on a day to day basis all tasks such as installing applications are performed automatically, with no prompts for passwords, because the administrator is the user.</p><p></p><p>The idea of using a non-admin account is to give you a layer of security against potential malicious activity. For example, if you have "Open safe files after downloading" checked in your Safari preferences (which it's advisable you do not) and this safe file turns out not to be so safe and somehow installs something you don't want installed or performs an action you don't want performed (don't ask me what or how, I'm just saying...) then with a non-admin account your attention will be drawn to the fact that something funny's going on because you'll be asked to authenticate. If this occurs when you're not expecting it to, don't just authenticate, investigate what's going on first.</p><p></p><p>In my opinion it's well worth running a non-admin account for day to day use, just for peace of mind. It only takes a second to authenticate, and it could save your skin at some point in the future, particularly if (when) that first malicious virus appears.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MartinS, post: 366467, member: 22279"] The idea of using a non-admin account is that every task you perform that has an effect on the system, such as installing a new app or making certain changes requires authentication by the administrator, which is probably you (ie, if it's your Mac and you're the only one who uses it). When prompted to authenticate you just type in the admin account name and password, and the task is performed as normal. When using an admin account on a day to day basis all tasks such as installing applications are performed automatically, with no prompts for passwords, because the administrator is the user. The idea of using a non-admin account is to give you a layer of security against potential malicious activity. For example, if you have "Open safe files after downloading" checked in your Safari preferences (which it's advisable you do not) and this safe file turns out not to be so safe and somehow installs something you don't want installed or performs an action you don't want performed (don't ask me what or how, I'm just saying...) then with a non-admin account your attention will be drawn to the fact that something funny's going on because you'll be asked to authenticate. If this occurs when you're not expecting it to, don't just authenticate, investigate what's going on first. In my opinion it's well worth running a non-admin account for day to day use, just for peace of mind. It only takes a second to authenticate, and it could save your skin at some point in the future, particularly if (when) that first malicious virus appears. [/QUOTE]
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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Operating System
Administration Account vs Regular Account ?
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