Creating a template for new accounts in Mac OS X

Whenever you create a new account in Mac OS X the default settings of the account come from a template file stored on the computer. It is possible to alter this template so that all new accounts will have default settings that are better suited to your needs.

For example I have set the template so that it it has the following settings:

• Auto start iMovie on log in
• Maximize iMovie to full screen
• Alter iMovie preferences such as turning on the Play Video through Camera option
• Have only necessary applications shown in the Doc and turn on auto hiding
• Add the machine specific license for QuickTime Pro into the account so that it doesn't have to be manually entered for each user
• Turn off the screen saver (I found it sometimes interferes with transcoding video, especially during MPEG 2 encoding)
• Set CD behavior to not auto load iTunes when music CDs are inserted
• Turn off auto update scheduling
  
• I've tried to set iMovie to set a different location for it's default save location but have not yet been successful.
  

The following instructions will set up your Mac OS video editing station with custom preferences for all new accounts created on it:

1. log in with a local admin. account and create a new user and call it Template, then log out
2. log into the new account and change all the preferences and settings that you want all new users to have (such as the suggestions above), then log out
3. log in as root and copy the Users/Template/Library folder to System/Library/User Template/English.lproj and say yes to replace all.
4. Log out and create new user accounts.