Does it matter who updates OS X?

A We recently upgraded the family computer to OS X Mountain Lion, but I’m a little concerned we may have backed ourselves into a corner. My son downloaded the update from his login and installed it there. Now Software Update has been replaced by the App Store, will I need to make sure all future updates to Mountain Lion are done through my son’s login? If so, is it better to give this login administrator authority and set it aside as a dedicated updating account and give him a new one? Geoff Lopez A First of all, why are you only updating to Mountain Lion? Mavericks is free and better! In fact Yosemite is almost upon us, so you might soon be two versions behind! But there’s no need to set any user accounts aside or create new ones. OS X isn’t treated like just another app. It’s in its own category, and it doesn’t matter who is logged in; the updates are installed just the same. Of course, whoever downloads new updates needs administrator privileges to install them, which makes me think your son’s account already has admin access. If it doesn’t list this in System Preferences > Users & Groups, you might want to change your own password because your son appears to have guessed it.

Software Update uses the App Store to update OS X, but it’s treated separately from every other app.