Sharing MacBook Pro with my wife!

Question

Do most people share their users with their spouses? We have an iMac that has separate users for the kids, but we have always used one.
Besides her being able to use her own email account, and the autonomy issues, do we need separate users????? Any advice for managing multiple users????
Thanks for your input......

Answer 1

On the note of separate accounts, some things to consider:
1) System Integrity. If you want to ensure that system settings stay the same system-wide, it's a good idea to have one administrator account to install software and make system-wide preference changes and to have separate user accounts for daily use by each user who only have "limited" access to system settings.
2) Data Integrity. By sharing your user account with someone else, you run the chance of someone else accidentally deleting your files. Do again, something to think about. You could partially solve this, however, by having a USB flash drive that you store important stuff on - not a real solution, just a workaround.
3) Privacy. Maybe you're planning an anniversary or birthday surprise and don't want the other person(s) to stumble across a bookmarked website or emailed receipt. Of course, this can work both ways. Maybe you don't want your spouse to have privacy.
It's my guess that these days most younger couples have entirely different computers. I am making complete generalizations here based on the people I know. But my friends and their significant others and my finance and I all have our own laptops. Most of my friends parents, however, only have one computer at home. My parents are the weird ones who have two at home (dad, laptop; mom, desktop); occasionally they share eachother's computer for one reason or another.
I am guessing it is entirely a matter of preference based on the factors that matter to you - convenience, privacy, protection of your files, etc.
Good Luck.