“Apple works hard to ensure the security of its operating systems and sometimes these security features can be confusing,” Kirk McElhearn writes for Intego. “In recent years, Apple has sandboxed their operating systems. This means that apps only have access to limited parts of your computer’s operating system and files. The reason for this is to prevent rogue apps from accessing data that they shouldn’t be able to read and to prevent malware from installing in certain parts of the system.”
“Related to this are specific accessibility permissions for apps that use the accessibility framework and automation permissions, for apps that use AppleScript, and other background technologies,” McElhearn writes. “You see dialogs asking you to grant these apps the permission to do certain things to your files.”
“While sandboxing and permissions are a good thing overall, they can be an annoyance. It means that some apps – notably utilities – are limited as to which files they can access on your Mac, and that some app features that you were used to using on your Mac may no longer work,” McElhearn writes. “While some of these permission dialogs existed before Mojave, they have become more common and can be confusing.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: No need for much worry about these dialog boxes unless the apps requesting access are not apps with which you are familiar.
The sandboxing also impacts setting up apps.
When my new Mac mini arrived I decided to set it up as a new unit instead of migrating the MacBook Pro it is replacing. On a number of utilities- including Intego’s SW suite- I had to open SysPrefs and grant full access to the app. Same for TechTool Pro and Disk Warrior.
In case you are considering a Mac mini, I ran Geekbench on my i7 and the unit tested very favorably. It did quite well this morning transcoding a BluRay to 1080p 60 m4v.