[mcsjgs]

1. In the "Users" System Preference, please make the administrator unlock the Startup Items before changes can be made. It is just stupid to have very other aspect of that preference require unlocking with an adminstrator's password except that one. Dumb.

2. In Safari, besides a stealth mode of browsing, please make a one-button way to wipe both the history and the cache after using secure sites such as banking, etc. Now it is a 3 step process (wipe history, press empty cache button, press yes, I really want to empty the cache). More convenience would be appreciated.

[MacGorilla]

[email protected]

[mcsjgs]

Feedback done

[squilla]

Originally posted by mcsjgs:
2. In Safari, besides a stealth mode of browsing, please make a one-button way to wipe both the history and the cache after using secure sites such as banking, etc. Now it is a 3 step process (wipe history, press empty cache button, press yes, I really want to empty the cache). More convenience would be appreciated.

From the Safari menu, try "Reset Safari..."

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by mcsjgs:
1. In the "Users" System Preference, please make the administrator unlock the Startup Items before changes can be made. It is just stupid to have very other aspect of that preference require unlocking with an adminstrator's password except that one. Dumb.

Not dumb at all once you realize that this is a user-specific setting. There is no reason that a user shouldn't be able to change his own startup items without being an administrator.

Now, if users were able to change other users' startup items without an admin password, then yes, there'd be a problem. But fortunately, that's not the case.

2. In Safari, besides a stealth mode of browsing, please make a one-button way to wipe both the history and the cache after using secure sites such as banking, etc. Now it is a 3 step process (wipe history, press empty cache button, press yes, I really want to empty the cache). More convenience would be appreciated.

I think someone already pointed out Reset Safari, which does exactly this.

[mcsjgs]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't "Reset Safari" reset other things besides history and cache. If I remember correctly, that's why I don't use it for that.

Edited: Now I remember. It deletes all the cookies, which was a major pain. I'll clean them up periodically, but it is a royal pain to log on to numerous sites again just to delete the history and cache.

On the "User" preference, what bothers me is the possibility of a hacker using this. I don't normally check this item often, but I notice the iCal update stuck a new thing in there which I didn't want.

I can see the point about a non-admin user being able to set start-up items, but why not just have a start-up preference.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by mcsjgs:
On the "User" preference, what bothers me is the possibility of a hacker using this. I don't normally check this item often, but I notice the iCal update stuck a new thing in there which I didn't want.

I can see the point about a non-admin user being able to set start-up items, but why not just have a start-up preference.

A hacker would probably just edit the loginwindow preference file manually rather than manipulating System Preferences to do so.

In fact, if what you want is to prevent that file from being changed, you can do so simply by finding this file:

~/Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist

Get info on this file, then check the Locked check box. Next, change the permissions so that it's owned by the system and is read-only to you. Ta da, your login items should now be static.

[mcsjgs]

Thanks, that's good advice.

Edited: Actually Charles, that did not work. The system reverted ownership to me on restart with read-write privileges and zapped all my start-up items (nothing in the window in the preference pane). So I just copied the old plist back from my backup. So, I'll stick with what I had even though I am not comfortable with it.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by mcsjgs:
Thanks, that's good advice.

Edited: Actually Charles, that did not work. The system reverted ownership to me on restart with read-write privileges and zapped all my start-up items (nothing in the window in the preference pane). So I just copied the old plist back from my backup. So, I'll stick with what I had even though I am not comfortable with it.

Did you check the "Locked" check box as well as changing the permissions?

[Randman]

Reset Safari kills bookmarks as well.

Although you can permanently disable the cache, either from locking the appropriate file or using SafariSpeed. Quite handy and it does help to lock the cache and disable saving of flavicons.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by Randman:
Reset Safari kills bookmarks as well.

No, it doesn't...

[mcsjgs]

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Did you check the "Locked" check box as well as changing the permissions?

Yes, I did.

[ryju]

THANKYOU SIRE I'LL GET THIS ON YOUR DESK BY 9PM

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by mcsjgs:
Yes, I did.

Then did you make sure your access was set to "Read Only" and not "No Access"?

I set up an entire lab full of Macs this way to stop MSN Messenger from making itself a startup item when people would download it and run it on the machines, so I know it works.

[mcsjgs]

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Then did you make sure your access was set to "Read Only" and not "No Access"?

I set up an entire lab full of Macs this way to stop MSN Messenger from making itself a startup item when people would download it and run it on the machines, so I know it works.

Yes, Charles, I did. I appreciate your help, but it's probably something peculiar to my system and not worth further exploring. I'll live with what I've got. Right now, I've been trying to get my system preferences to work properly (accounts and speech are not working as well as crashlog, so I've got some basic problem that is eluding me). Thanks for your help though, and I am sure your solution is a good one.

[Link]

One of my biggest requests was implemented -- that "single slider GUI DPI adjustment" thingy.. what's now called Resolution Independence...

w00t!

Now we don't have to have the powerbook "But too high a DPI is unusable!!!" stuff.. of course, it'll be a while before it actually looks good