Do You Share Your Computer?

[Vincent Ferrari]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://gizmodo.com/5111240/do-you-feel-uncomfortable-when-someone-else-uses-your-computer' target='_blank'>http://gizmodo.com/5111240/do-you-f...s-your-computer</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Your computer is your life. All of your important information is on there and you have the settings just the way you like. Now someone wants to use it. Does that make you uncomfortable?"</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1229481682.usr18053.jpg" style="border: 0;" /></p><p>It's an interesting question, and to get the discussion started, I'll relate my own experience.&nbsp; My wife and I both own MacBooks (she a BlackBook, I a MacBook Pro) and at any given time one of our laptops is in the living room near the couch.&nbsp; There are times when I'll need to look something up and will not even consider touching her BlackBook; I usually use my iPhone instead.&nbsp; She, however, has no qualms about grabbing my MacBook Pro.&nbsp; It's not that I don't trust her, but I consider a computer someone's sacred space which is why I won't go near hers unless she asks me to or if there are software updates that need to be done.&nbsp; If we had one computer and had to share it, I may think differently, but we don't so I imagine its made me somewhat territorial.</p><p>Now that I've gotten that out in the open, it's your turn.&nbsp; How do you feel about others using your computer?&nbsp; Open up and vent!&nbsp; And while you're at it, hit up the link at the top and help the boys at Gizmodo out with their poll!</p>

[Trane]

I wouldn't worry much with a spouse or sig other if I can trust them. My brother on the otherhand .... well, he did install Windows 95 on our parents' computer while home from college for a weekend, so I'd be a little cautious.

I'm planning to get a new MacBook Pro in the next month, and very few people will get to touch that. I recently let a couple friends use my work laptop for a few minutes and found fingerprints and a scratch on the screen afterward. They will not touch the MBP. I keep a bottle of KlearScreen in my office due to all the screen touchers at work.

I guess it also depends on who it is for which computer they can use. My work computer is effectively nothing but a dumb terminal, so I don't have to worry about anything getting found or deleted. I let my family on my personal Mac, but would be less likely to allow friends on without having a guest account.

[crimsonsky]

My 12" Powerbook G4 is mainly my wife's computer as she only uses it to check her lottery numbers online and do her online banking. The screen is busted, the internal hard drive died a few months ago and the keyboard is non-functioning. So I have it attached to an external monitor and keyboard and it boots from an external firewire hard drive. She's perfectly happy with it that way and it keeps her off my main computer (my Mini).

HOWEVER, the Powerbook is not powerful enough to watch the streaming videos from RTVE (Spanish television - my wife is Spanish) - the videos stutter horribly, so to watch the videos, she borrows my Macbook. Since she only watches the videos a couple times a week, I don't have any problem with it. If she used the computer more often, I'd probably just upgrade her Powerbook to a Mini.

I don't really mind other folks using my computers on a temporary basis. Anything sensitive I have (Word Documents and PDFs mostly) are encrypted. And since I back up both my Mini and my Macbook religiously, I'm not concerned with data loss. Often when someone comes over and needs to use a computer for email or web browsing, I'll just hand them my Macbook and have them log in using the Guest user. This is one of the nicest things about Leopard - give them temporary access using Guest and when they log out, everything they've done is erased.

[Joe Johaneman]

I used to live in a complex where I was the only one with a computer. Several times a week I would share my computer with others so they could check out job listings and videos on line. It always made me uncomfortable, but I did it because it felt like the right thing to do. Now no one uses either my MacBook or my Windows box except me, and that's the way I like it.

[gojeffrey]

I think my title sums up my feelings on the matter. There are two of us in my household. Each of us has our own laptop and iphone, and there is definitely no sharing of those devices. There's also a desktop that is shared, but we have separate user accounts and a (severely restricted) guest account, which is absolutely necessary when friends or relatives are over and want to use the computer. It usually goes something like this;"Do you mind if I use your computer to get my email?"
"Well yes I do mind, but if you must..."
"How to I get to AOL on this?..."
My general rule: Don't even think about touching my gadgets.

[Michael Barrett]

I have a hard time letting anyone, including my wife, use my computer. I do so much on the computer, that it's like an extension of myself and it just feels weird when other people want to use it.

I have offered from time to time to let my wife and my sister use my computers, but whether it's my desktop PC or my new MacBook, it just feels weird when someone sits down to use them.

[doogald]

The MacBook is pretty much mine, but I will let family and friends use it any time (family all have accounts, friends use Guest.) The iMac is the family computer; we all have accounts, and, again, we have Guest. The Mini plays music or shows TV so is only logged in as that account - though it would be a backup family computer if the iMac funks out.

Like others, anything sensitive of mine is in encrypted disk images. Id FileValut worked with Time Machine live, I'd probably use it. Otherwise, I do not sweat it much.

[Dayana]

Unfortunately I have to let MWBF use my BlackBook... and it drives me batty. But at least I have the forethought to clear my history and the like... which, the ONE TIME I used his computer I found out he didn't. Fun argument there. And, no I have not touched his windows box since.

[ptyork]

Vincent, I think I'm exactly like you. My wife has no qualms about using my computer and it makes me very anxious when she does. I can't exactly say "hey, that's mine" since it would seem stupid and petty (and that I had something to hide which I actually don't...much). It just makes me squeamish. I'm also a "stateful" computer user in that I leave lots of web pages and such open from session to session to remind me of what I'm doing. She has the most annoying habit of closing every f'ing window ("there is a MINIMIZE button, SWEETIE"--"no YOU use IE, I use Firefox"--God knows she'll never understand windows or tabs and how to create new ones instead of stepping on mine). Anyway, I'm slowly weaning her away by installing WHS and shared folders and improving her laptop to make my "uber" computer less necessary.

[Macguy59]

Is this like the purse vs wallet thing ? Women seem to love going through our wallet but we don't like even holding her purse let alone taking ownership long enough to look through it :p I don't mind someone else using mine as guest.

[Vincent Ferrari]

Is this like the purse vs wallet thing ? Women seem to love going through our wallet but we don't like even holding her purse let alone taking ownership long enough to look through it :p I don't mind someone else using mine as guest.

God that is SO true. I hand my wife her purse when she asks me for something out of it. :o

[Macguy59]

I hand my wife her purse when she asks me for something out of it. :o

Ditto. Of course the "what's wrong with you" look usually accompanies the hand off.

[Vincent Ferrari]

Ditto. Of course the "what's wrong with you" look usually accompanies the hand off.

I usually get the eye roll and the sigh. :rolleyes:

[ucfgrad93]

I share both my iMac and MBP with my wife and daughter. I don't mind in the least.

[Jason Dunn]

Two words: Guest Account. Do Macs have those?

[doogald]

Two words: Guest Account. Do Macs have those?

Yes, it does.

The MacBook is pretty much mine, but I will let family and friends use it any time (family all have accounts, friends use Guest.) The iMac is the family computer; we all have accounts, and, again, we have Guest.

[Steven Cedrone]

I have a laptop that I keep just for folks that want to jump on the Interweb - I don't let anyone touch my main machine...

[Cybrid]

Each of the kids has an older PC. More to do with LAN gaming and the time spent "sharing ".
My wife and I have the big machine to ourselves. I keep nothing from her. She knows all my passwords.
I keep data on a shared drive so I can access it anywhere.
I let close family on without a chaperone.
Anyone else is on a " guest profile "