2 copies of every application?

tilt

Hi,



My wife and I have our own logins into our Mac Mini. When i install an application, my wife is also able to access it from her login. Since apps in MacOSX are self-contained, does this mean that there are two copies of every app installed in the machine - one for me and one for my wife?



Cheers

kingofsomewherehot

Not normally .... if youu have admin privileges, the when you install an app it will (default) be put into the "Applications" folder accessible to all .... If you are NOT an admin, when you install an app, it will be intalled in your home folder, innaccessibe to others.



Correct me if I'm wrong, folks... but I believe that's how I recall it working.

tilt

Thanks. I was under the mistaken impression that each of us has a separate Applications folder, hence my question.



Cheers

bergz

Quote:

Originally posted by tilt

Thanks. I was under the mistaken impression that each of us has a separate Applications folder, hence my question.



Cheers

You do. Just browse your HD using column view. Starting from the left you'll see that there is a universal Applications folder at the same level as the Users folder. This means that when you switch Users, the Application folder priveledges don't switch, only whatever lies inside your User folder. Inside there there's another App folder in case you don't want your daughter to have access to Onyx or Hot_Mamas.app. That app will only show up when you're logged in because it's in /Users/Tilt/Applications.



The prefs change when you switch users because each user also has his own library. So you can have universal prefs (in /library) or personal prefs (users/tilt/library).



Nice system. Very rational.



--B

tilt

Thanks Bergz. I do not have an Apps folder under each user folder, probably because I never install any app that is exclusive to me or my wife. So maybe I only have one universal Apps folder at the same level as Users like you mentioned. Thanks for the clarification.



Cheers

lundy

Quote:

Originally posted by tilt

Thanks Bergz. I do not have an Apps folder under each user folder, probably because I never install any app that is exclusive to me or my wife. So maybe I only have one universal Apps folder at the same level as Users like you mentioned. Thanks for the clarification.



Cheers

If you use Fast User Switch, and you both are logged in and running for example Safari, you can launch Activity Monitor and see that there are 2 copies of Safari running.

kickaha

But only one copy on disk.