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Two questions.

1) Sometimes when I move an application to the desktop or even into a blank folder my password is required. Not sure why or how I can shut this off.

b) Whenever Firefox downloads a file, my password is required before the file is opened.

2) Do Apple applications need to be left in the Applications folder? What if they are in a folder within the Applications folder? I read that iwork08 programs (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) must stay in the folder marked iwork in the Applications folder. There may be other examples of this where an application might not be able to find a necessary file. I keep applications in the Applications folder, of course, but I'd like to put in some organizing folders: Audio, Video, Graphics, Internet, Utilities.

Adobe drops files all over the place.
1) Since Snowy (I think), an admin password has been required before you can move Apple apps and some 3rd-party apps out of /Apps.

b) Is Firefox > Prefs > Security > Passwords > Use a master password checked? It may be at the root of your being asked for one.

2) I don't know of it's an absolute must for all of them, but Apple apps should generally be left as-is.

I keep most of my 3rd party apps on a separate partition, but Little Snitch and Xtra Finder insist on living in /Apps, and while XF can be moved out without a p/w, LS cannot.
Apple apps will be updated in the folder where they were installed by the Apple installer or the App Store, not where you moved them. Apparently some (many?) are installed as being owned by System, thus the requirement for an administrative password to move them. If I want to organize applications, I do it in the Launcher, not in the Applications folder.
The only apps I've got in /Apps are

Address Book.app
Automator.app
Calculator.app
Dictionary.app
DVD Player.app
Font Book.app
iPhoto.app
iTunes.app
Little Snitch Configuration.app
Mail.app
Preview.app
QuickTime Player.app (v 10)
Safari.app
System Preferences.app
TextEdit.app
XtraFinder.app

and of them, only XtraFinder and iTunes can be moved without authentication.
Originally Posted By: artie505
The only apps I've got in /Apps are

Address Book.app
Automator.app
Calculator.app
Dictionary.app
DVD Player.app
Font Book.app
iPhoto.app
iTunes.app
Little Snitch Configuration.app
Mail.app
Preview.app
QuickTime Player.app (v 10)
Safari.app
System Preferences.app
TextEdit.app
XtraFinder.app

and of them, only XtraFinder and iTunes can be moved without authentication.

I presume when you say the /Apps folder you are referring to the /Applications folder?

With the sole exception of XtraFinder all of these are apps that were installed as a part of OS X? I can't verify ownership of the applications in your version of OS X, but in Mavericks the owner is root and root is the only one with Read/Write/Execute permission. Group and WORLD are Read and Execute.
(OS X 10.6.8) Yes, /Applications, and all the listed apps except XtraFinder, Little Snitch, and iTunes were installed by OS X.

My apps have an assortment of permissions, but they all require admin authentication to be moved out of /Apps except for XtraFinder and iTunes, and since I posted I've realized that ITunes is an anomaly, because it's an old, i.e. Leopard, version that has been copied and dragged and dropped and has wound up with

artie - Read & Write
admin - Read only
everyone - Read only

from its starting point of

system - Read & Write
admin - Read & Write
everyone - Read only
What permissions do you see on the /Applications folder itself?
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