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160 Chapter 10 Managing Preferences
 Once is available for some preferences. You can create default preferences, which
users can then modify and keep the modifications. These preferences are effectively
unmanaged.
For example, you could set up a group of computers to display the Dock in a certain
way the first time users log in. A user can change these preferences (you’ve set to
Once) and the selected changes always apply to that user.
In the Overview Preference panes, you can set the following preferences to Once:
Dock, Finder (Preferences and Views), Login (Login Items), Mobility (Login & Logout
Sync and Background Sync panes of Rules), and Universal Access. For all other
preferences, you must choose Always or Never.
 Never lets a user control his or her preferences. However, some preference settings,
such as Accounts and Date & Time, require a local administrator’s name and
password before changes can be made.
Never also means that the preferences are not managed at this account level but
may be managed at a different account level. For example, even if you set the Dock
preference to Never for a user, the Dock preference could still be managed at the
group or computer level.
Note: When using the preference editor (the Details view in the Preferences pane), you
can set preferences to Often. Often settings are similar to Once settings, but are
reapplied at every login. This management setting is useful for training environments.
Users can customize their preferences to suit their needs during a session without any
risk of affecting a future user’s work experience. Some applications only respond to
preference management set to Often.
Caching Preferences
Preferences are cached on Mac OS X computers so they remain in effect even when the
computer is off the network. With Mac OS X v10.5 and later, the preferences cache is
automatically managed:
 Computer preferences and preferences for any workgroups that can use the
computer are cached.
 User preferences are always cached for users who have mobile accounts.
When a computer is off the network, only users with local accounts or network users
with mobile accounts on that computer can log in.
Preference Management Basics
In Workgroup Manager, information about users, groups, computers, and computer
groups is integrated with directory services. After you set up the accounts, you can
manage preferences for them.