

Users can also choose to sort preference panes alphabetically. A fifth category, "Other", appears when third-party preference panes are installed. As of Mac OS X v10.7, these categories are "Personal", "Hardware", "Internet & Wireless", and "System". By default, System Preferences organizes preference panes into several categories. Preference panes are not applications but loadable bundles for the System Preferences application, similar to the arrangement used under System 6. When Mac OS X was released, preference panes replaced control panels. This section needs expansion with: Add a screenshot, and use Ars Technica's Mac OS X reviews for each successive Mac OS X reiease to cover each change comprehensively.

The control panels included with Mac OS 9 are: By Mac OS 9, many control panels had been rewritten as true applications. Mac OS 9, the last release of the Mac OS before Mac OS X, included 32 control panels.

With the debut of System 7 the control panels were separated into individual small application-like processes accessible from the Finder, and by a sub-menu in the Apple menu provided by Apple Menu Options. This design was used until System 3 when separate control panel files ("cdev"s) were added, accessible solely through the control panel. Susan Kare designed the interface for the original control panel, and tried to make it as user-friendly as possible. The original control panels in the earliest versions of the classic Mac OS were all combined into one small Desk Accessory. This included a subset of configurable settings called "convenience settings" as well as other settings that adapted according to the programs and devices installed on the Lisa Office System. Control panels, like the preference panes found in System Preferences, were separate resources (cdevs) that were accessed through the Apple menu's Control Panel.Ī rudimentary form of system preferences dates back to 1983 with the Apple Lisa Preferences menu item.

History Control Panel (classic Mac OS) īefore the release of Mac OS X in 2001, users modified system settings using control panels. The System Settings application was introduced in the first version of Mac OS X to replace the control panels found in earlier versions of the Mac operating system. It allows users to modify various system settings, which are divided into separate Preference Panes. System Settings ( System Preferences on macOS Monterey and earlier) is an application included with macOS. JSTOR ( May 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.
