System Preferences

One of the great things about Mac OS is the way it can be customized to look and work the way you want it to. Many customization options can be set within the System Preferences application (Figure 1). That's where you'll find a variety of preferences panes, each containing settings for a part of Mac OS.

Figure 1. The System Preferences window, with icons for all panes displayed.

System Preferences panes are organized into four categories:

• Personal preferences panes enable you to set options to customize various Mac OS X appearance and operation options for personal tastes. This chapter covers Appearance, Dashboard & Exposé, Desktop & Screen Saver, Dock, International, and Spotlight.

• Hardware preferences panes control settings for various hardware devices. This chapter covers CDs & DVDs, Displays, Energy Saver, Keyboard & Mouse, Print & Fax, and Sound.

• Internet & Network preferences panes enable you to set options related to Internet and network connections. This chapter covers QuickTime.

• System preferences panes control various aspects of your computer's operation. This chapter covers Date & Time, Software Update, Speech, Startup Disk, and Universal Access.

Tip

• Other Preferences panes are covered elsewhere in this book:

  • .Mac, in Chapter 14.

  • Accounts and Security, in Chapter 17.

  • Bluetooth (which only appears if a Bluetooth adapter is installed) and Sharing, in Chapter 16.

  • Classic (which only appears if Mac OS 9.x is installed), in Chapter 18.

  • Network, in Chapters 13 and 16.

To open System Preferences

Choose Apple > System Preferences (Figure 2).

Figure 2. To open System Preferences, choose System Preferences from the Apple menu…

Or

Click the System Preferences icon in the Dock (Figure 3).

Figure 3. …or click the System Preferences icon in the Dock.

The System Preferences window appears (Figure 1).

To open a preferences pane

Click the icon for the pane you want to display.

Or

Choose the name of the pane you want to display from the View menu (Figure 4).

Figure 4. The View menu lists all of the System Preferences panes.

To show all preferences pane icons

Choose a command from the System Preferences' View menu (Figure 4):

• Organize by Categories () displays all icons organized by category (Figure 1).

• Organize Alphabetically displays all icons organized alphabetically by name (Figure 5).

  Figure 5. System Preferences pane icons can also be displayed alphabetically.

  

  
  

Or

Click the Show All button in the toolbar of the System Preferences window (Figures 1 and 5). This displays all icons in the last view usedby category or alphabetically.

To find a preference pane by task or topic

1.	Enter a search word or phrase in the search box in the upper-right corner of the System Preferences window. Three things happen (Figure 6): The window gets dark. Icons for related preference panes are highlighted. A menu of possible topics appears. Figure 6. You can now search system preferences to find the preference pane you need to perform a task.
2.	Select a topic from the menu. or Click a highlighted icon. The appropriate preference pane opens.

Tip

• The ability to search system preferences is brand new in Mac OS X 10.4.

To quit System Preferences

Use one of the following techniques:

• Choose System Preferences > Quit System Preferences (Figure 7).

  Figure 7. The System Preferences menu.

  

  
  

• Press .

• Click the System Preferences window's close button.