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However, there are ways to mitigate the password hassle if, like me, you are the only user of your Mac and not on a network that gives others access to your computer (note that even using a modem dialup to the Internet poses a degree of potential security risk).
Basic is to set up your Mac so that it will boot into OS X without asking you to enter your password. In order to do that just check the "Automatically log in as ......" checkbox in the Accounts preference panel.
Actually, OS X will, somewhat grudgingly, allow you to leave the administrator password entry field blank when you install the system. You will be presented with dialogs protesting that you may have security issues, but if there really is little or nothing to worry about him that regard, feel free to ignore them, and enjoy being able to just click the OK button without entering a password when you install a program or some such.
One of my problems with passwords is remembering them, and which one applies to what. I am absent-minded, and remembering that sort of detail is not my long suit. Consequently, I tend to use only a few passwords and relatively short ones. This is not recommended by security experts, who advise that an ideal password should be:
One. A word that is not found in any dictionary, and not follow or preceded by random characters
1. A word that is not found in any dictionary, and not followed or preceded by random characters.
2. A combination of letters and numbers (not numbers only)
3. Not something obvious like your user name (whether straight up, reversed, or doubled), or your Social Security number
4. At least eight characters long and the longer the better.
5. A mixture of upper case and lower case letters, punctuation, symbols, and numbers.
6. Not the name of your child, wife, pet, favorite movie star, your license plate number, etc.
7. If you keep a bunch of passwords in the OS X keychain, it should not be the same as any of the passwords stored in the key chain.
OS X 10.3 Panther's new key chain creator dialog features a handy password check, which is available through the I button. To check a password using the password-check dialog, Open the Keychain Access application (in the Utilities Folder in the Applications Folder), select New Keychain from the File Menu, click Create, then click the "i" radio button, and the Password Assistant will appear. Enter the password in the password field and click OK. A security rating will appear in the password check window. One password I use a lot scored a pathetic 6.5 security rating (on a scale that goes at least as high as 134.4 - see below).
You can alter your password or try different passwords until you achieve the highest security rating (green.)
And what if you for get your OS X login password? Well, you don't need to worry about having to reinstall the system or anything drastic like that. At least as long as you have your original install CD handy. Boot the Mac from the CD, Open the install menu, and choose Reset Password.
A dialog will appear asking which disk you want to access, and you can enter a new user name and password. Click the Save button and reboot the Mac, whose system will now be available with the new user name and password.
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4. At least eight characters long and the longer the better (although OS X uses only the first eight characters to authenticated a user).
No longer true, as of 10.3. Passwords can be longer, and all characters will be required to authenticate.