Control panel (Mac OS)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A control panel under the Mac OS 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.
[edit] History
The original control panels in the earliest Mac OS were all combined into one small Desk Accessory. Susan Kare designed the interface for the original control panel, and tried to make it as user-friendly as possible. This design was used until System Software 6 when more options were added and the interface was changed.
With the debut of System 7 the control panels were separated into individual small documents accessible from a sub-menu in the Apple menu. By Mac OS 9 most (if not all) of the control panels were applications.
In Mac OS X control panels are found as "preference panes" accessible through the System Preferences utility. Preference panes in Mac OS X are small documents rather than independent applications.
[edit] List of Control Panels
The control panels included with Mac OS 9:
- Appearance
- Apple Menu Options
- AppleTalk
- ColorSync
- Control Strip
- Date & Time
- DialAssist
- Extensions Manager
- File Exchange
- File Sharing
- File Synchronization
- General Controls
- Internet
- Keyboard
- Keychain Access
- Launcher
- Location Manager
- Memory
- Modem
- Monitors
- Mouse
- Multiple Users
- Numbers
- QuickTime™ Settings
- Remote Access
- Software Update
- Sound
- Speech
- Startup Disk
- TCP/IP
- Text
- Web Sharing
