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Pros & Cons of multiple Users in home environment
About to update the family home computer to a new iMac, which would have 10.5x running.
I use Macs at work every day, and at home, but always with single Users per computer.I’m trying to determine, when I get a new computer, whether to create new Users for each of us at home (Dad, Mum, several kids)
What do I need to look at to make this decision?
I’m concerned about pitfalls with multiple users. In particular, I don’t want to double up on files across several users, especially images in iPhoto or music in iTunes. (There are 3 iPods in the house, and the choices of music cross over from person to person. ie, we don’t have distinctly different tastes in music, so sharing music without massive duplication would be nice.)I’d welcome thoughts from anyone who has gone through this decision-making process, especially in a home environment. Interested in both Pros & Cons.
Thanks,
Neil. -
3 Replies
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Well first off you should at least have a separate user account for the kids even if it is just one account for all of them. You should not give them administrator rites on the computer, YOU should be the one who determines what gets installed on the computer. You can also set the itunes & iphoto libraries to be on an external drive, and then set each user account to look for the library on the external drive.
Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!
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[Zane Barker] “…you should at least have a separate user account for the kids … You should not give them administrator rites on the computer, YOU should be the one who determines what gets installed on the computer.”
They wouldn’t know the Password; isn’t that enough?“You can also set the itunes & iphoto libraries to be on an external drive, and then set each user account to look for the library on the external drive.”
a) Can that work using the internal drive? Why an external one?
b) Does that prevent duplication of files? (Songs or Photos)Thanks.
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Neil Ryan
Post Production
The Pod Multimedia
http://www.the-pod.com.au
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[Neil Ryan] “Can that work using the internal drive? Why an external one? “
You can use the internal system drive, but you MUST put the libraries in the shared folder otherwise not every user will have access to it.
[Neil Ryan] “Does that prevent duplication of files? (Songs or Photos) “
YES like I said every user account that has the iTunes and iPhoto library set to the one on the external or the one in the shared folder, will see the exact same library, same playlists in iTUnes, and same albums n iPhoto. They are each referencing the EXACT SAME library.
Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!
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