Accounts Preferences

The second thing I do after setting up the Security preferences is usually to setup my Accounts preferences. Open up your System Preferences as usual and click on the Accounts icon.



In the Accounts pane, you will see only one account which is the one you setup when you did the Welcome portion. You may have to click on the LOCK icon at the bottom-left to make changes in this screen.



Here are the things you want to do:

1. Create a new administrator account by clicking the ' + ' just above the LOCK icon. Be sure to give it a name and password you will remember.
2. Select your personal account and create a password for it
3. While your personal account is still selected, UNCHECK the option "Allow user to administer this computer". This will change your account from ADMIN to STANDARD

That is all for the Accounts pane.

-= Further Explanation =-

The reason why I recommend that you downgrade the account you use on a daily basis to a STANDARD account is so that even if that account gets exploited unwittingly by malware or accidental use by friends, it will not be able to do much damage to the system.

You will still need at least one ADMIN account to do things like installing and updating applications. This account should not be for regular use. Any account you create for regular use should be a STANDARD account.