Creating a user account in Mac OS X 10.5 is pretty straight forward: Make up a user name and password in the Accounts Preference Pane, and you are pretty much done. If you are looking for more control over how your user accounts are set up, however, you just need to know where to look.

Leopardis Accounts Preference Pane also hides a set of advanced options you can use to customize user account settings. To get at the advanced options, Control-click a name in the Accounts Preference Pane, and then choose Advanced from the pop-up menu.

The advanced options let you change User ID, Group ID, short name, login shell, home directory location, and more. In the old days of Mac OS X, changing a short name was a real pain. Not any more.

This is a great tool when placed in the right hands, and a potential disaster in the making for anyone that doesnit understand the ramifications of changing these settings -- which could include losing access to your account. If you havenit messed with any of these settings in the past, invite a friend over that has and let them show you the ropes.

[Thanks to TMO reader Andrew McIntosh for pointing out this tip.]

<!--#include virtual="/includes/newsite/series/quicktip.shtml"-->