System Preferences

System Preferences is an application included with the OS X operating system that allows users to modify various system settings which are divided into separate preference panes. The System Preferences application was introduced in the first version of Mac OS X to replace the control panel that was included in previous versions of the Mac OS. Prior to Mac OS X, a control panel is a small application which enabled the user to modify software and hardware settings such as the sound volume and desktop pattern. Control panels differ from extensions in that they allow the user to specify options, whereas extensions provide the user with no interface for setting preferences. In many software distributions Extensions provided the functionality and the corresponding Control Panel provided all the configuration options.

Overview

History

Before the release of Mac OS X in 2001, users modified system settings using control panels. Control panels, like the preference panes found in System Preferences, were separate resources (cdevs) that were accessed through the Apple menu's Control Panel.