. Signing In, Logging Out Once somebody has set up your account, here's what it's like getting into, and out of, a Mac OS X machine | . Signing In Logging Out Once somebody has set up your account here s what it s like getting into and out of a Mac OS X machine. For the purposes of this discussion you are no longer the administrator you re one of the students employees or family members for whom an account has been set up. . Identifying Yourself When you first turn on the Mac or when the person who last used this computer chooses Log Out the login screen shown in Figure 12-1 appears. At this point you can proceed in any of several ways Restart. Click if you need to restart the Mac for some reason. The Restart and Shut Down buttons don t appear here if the administrator has chosen to hide them as a security precaution see Section . Shut Down. Click if you re done for the day or if sudden panic about the complexity of user accounts makes you want to run away. The computer turns off. Log In. To sign in click your account name in the list. If you re a keyboard speed freak you can also type the first letter or two or press the up or down arrow keys until your name is highlighted. Then press Return or Enter. Either way the password box appears now if a password is required . If you accidentally click the wrong person s name on the first screen you can click Back. Otherwise type your password and then press Enter or click Log In . You can try as many times as you want to type the password. With each incorrect guess the entire dialog box shudders violently from side to side as though shaking its head No. If you try unsuccessfully three times your hint appears if you ve set one up. If you see a strange icon in the password box guess what You ve got your Caps Lock key on and the Mac thinks you re typing an allcapitals password. Tip So what happens if you forget your password and even the Mac s administrator doesn t know it On your third attempt to type the password correctly the Mac shows you your password hint unless the administrator has turned off the Hint option and a button called Reset
