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Comment by ralfd | Hacker News Reader

I want an optional feature which only allows the OS to execute MacAppStore programs.

This would be "grandparent proof" and would prevent trivial kinds of social engineering used by MacDefender (which targeted clueless users).

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I'd be very likely to buy this for my mother or recommend it to others who need a simple and safe environment.

With a bit more polish, a Linux locked to a rigorously maintained package repository could also fill this niche.

My mother, a sweet 75 year old lady who loves to share powerpoint presentations with her friends, has been using Ubuntu Linux for the past 5 years or so. She moved up from MacOS 9, which she used since she abandoned Windows (because I threatened her I would not remove malware from her computer again).

So far, she has been very happy with it. She is now using Natty and quickly transitioned to the Unity shell.

Every once in a while, I log in remotely and brush the machine's teeth. Never found anything remotely suspicious.

If they did this (even as just an option), then there'd be an uproar about how they're incrementally making os x a completely closed system (a walled garden).

One of Apple's competencies is the ability to ignore such an 'uproar'.

They've already done it. It's an option under parental controls.

Confirmed. I just checked in Snow Leopard. I would totally do this for clueless people, too.

You can turn on parental controls and select which apps a user can execute, either per checkbox or (if they are from the App Store) based on age ratings.

Parental controls will, however, disable installing apps for the user completely. They get a prompt asking for the admin password. As far as I can see there is no way to enable users to only install apps from the app store. By the way, there is such an option in iOS.

I don't think anyone ever complained about them adding options to the parental controls, so Apple could absolutly add an option to install only App Store apps to the parental controls.

If you don't think this is coming, I've got a clue to sell you.

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