System Preferences: Then and Now
After 21 years, the original macOS System Preferences is being retired. The next version of macOS, “Ventura” will have an all-new iOS style preferences application named “System Settings”. I decided to go all the way back to 2001 and look at the original System Preferences (or “System Prefs” as it was called in the Menu Bar) in Mac OS X 10.0 “Cheeta” to see which of the original 21 preference panes made through all 21 years, and how they ended up in their final incarnation under macOS 12 “Monterey”.
All Preferences
Classic
This one went away in MacOS X 10.5 Leopard.
ColorSync
Since replaced with an app
Date & Time
Date and Time > Network Time
Date & Time > Time Zone
Date & Time
Desktop
Not technically a System Preference pane, but it quickly became one in 10.1 so I’ve included it here :)
Displays
Dock
Energy Saver (some options missing due to being in a VM)
Energy Saver on a Portable
Energy Saver on a Portable (if anyone knows how to configure UTM to make Mac OS X 10.0 think it’s running on a laptop, let me know and I’ll add a comparison for that too)
General
Language & Region > Time
Internet
Keyboard
Login
Login
Mouse
Network
Quicktime
Screen Saver
Screen Saver > Hot Corners
Sharing
Software Update
Sound
Speech
Startup Disk
Users
In sum
So, after 21 years it’s fair to say that while System Preferences has evolved and become more complex, a lot has also stayed the same. Teleport someone from 2001 to 2022 and while you might need to explain the concepts of the cloud storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Touch ID, they would probably do just fine working out the basics of macOS. (With the major exception of those who require the use of accessibility options, which wouldn’t be introduced until 10.1 “Puma”.) Since 2001, many more preference panes have been added. On a clean macOS Monterey installation, I counted 30 preferences panes. This increases to 32 if Family Sharing and iCloud are signed into. That’s an increase of about half a preference pane every year. I can therefore see why Apple might want to move to a more scalable system. That said, part of me will miss the familiarity of using System Preferences, the same application I have used since 2001 at the dawn of the OS X era.