 Inside your System Folder is a another folder called Control Panels. Here you keep, wait for it... Control Panels. Control Panels are like little applications which usually perform tasks associated with the system itself rather than doing any external Data processing. There are gazzillions of Control Panels so here is a small list of some of those supplied with System 7.5/6. I don't know how different all of them are in OS8 so if there are enough people out there who want me to compile an OS8 specific list, let me know and i'll see what I can do. I'll use their names only here again so you can find them easily if you set the window view to "By Name". Apple Menu Options This is used to organise your Apple Menu (top left of your monitor) Auto Power On/Off If your Mac has Soft Power On, i.e.able to be turned on by the keyboard, then you can use this CP to set times to automatically turn on or off your Mac. Cache Switch Used for 040 Macs (Quadra's, Centris'). This doodad switches your cache on and off. The cache is a portion of high speed memory which sits between your processor and CPU. It stores recently used instructions, commands and DATA in the assumption that you might need it again soon. Color Sets the text and Menu Highlight colours. Control Strip This gives you a little "Strip" usually in one of the bottom corners of your monitor. It gives you access to things like monitor resolution, other control panels. Date & Time Pretty self explanitory. Gives you a clock in the corner. Desktop Patterns Lets you set tiled backgrounds for your Macs desktop. Extensions Manager This CP lets you create customised sets of extensions for different tasks. Essentially it means that you don't have to have all of your extensions loaded all of the time. this feature is invaluable if you only have a little RAM like me (nowadays considered less than 16Mb). If you are doing something memory intensive like using one of todays bloated Web Browsers, you probably don't need to use things like Apple Guide or QuickDraw GX, so you can temporarily turn them off by creating an Extension Set dedicated to only using the extensions you need like PPP or Open Transport. File Sharing Monitor. Tells you what folders & files are being shared if your Mac is on a network. General Controls Lets you set various aspects of your Macs behavoir. Have a look and set them how you want. Keyboard Lets you set keyboard characteristics such as the delay in holding down a key before it starts repeating. Labels Lets you label files and folders. Probably the least used aspect of the Mac. Launcher Launcher gives you a window with alias' to all your favorite programmes. Easily customised. Mac Easy Open If you click on a file and you don't have the application which created it, this nifty little CP gives you a list of alternative applications that might be able to open it. MacTCP This control panel is vital for Internet Access. This is what lets your Mac speak TCP (Transport Comunications Protocol) to the UNIX machines which most of the Net is run from. If webbing, don't disturb. Map A Map Memory Lets you set preferences for memory use. Get to know it. PC Exchange This is what has made the Mac great for so many years. It allows your Mac to read PC floppies, Zip Disks. If you have a text file you wrote on a PC and need to edit it on a Mac... no probs. It doesn't mean you can run PC applications though. On ly handle the files the disk contains. Sharing Setup If you have networked two or more Macs, you will need this to set sharing setings like owner passwords etc. Sound Lets you set alert sounds and things. Startup Disk This lets you set your Mac to always start from a disk on your SCSI chain other than the internal Hard Disk. Views Lets you set up the way your Mac looks. WindowShade Having this installed allows you to double click on the title bar of a window to have it "roll up" out of the way without closing the window. |
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