category, "Other", appears when third-party preference panes are installed. Users can also choose to sort preference panes alphabetically. System Preferences originally included a customizable toolbar into which frequently-used preference pane icons could be dragged, but this was removed in Mac OS X v10.4 and replaced with a static toolbar that featured back and forward navigation buttons and a search field. Apple has added new preference panes when major features are added to the operating system and occasionally merges multiple panes into one. When Exposé was introduced with Mac OS X v10.3, a corresponding preference pane was added to System Preferences. This was replaced by a single "Dashboard & Exposé" pane in Mac OS X v10.4, which introduced Dashboard. When the .Mac service was replaced by MobileMe, the corresponding preference pane was also renamed. In OS X Mountain Lion, the "Universal Access" pane is changed to "Accessibility" and "Speech" is changed to "Dictation & Speech". System Settings (macOS Ventura) In macOS Ventura, System Preferences was replaced with System Settings. System Settings has a new user interface that is similar to the iOS/iPadOS Settings app. Each category is on a sidebar to the left of the window, instead of the original preference panes that were used in System Preferences. If AirPods are connected, a menu for the AirPods will appear at the top of System Settings. See also Settings (for iOS) References External links Mac Basics: Set your preferences, Apple Support The untold history of macOS System Preferences Computer configuration MacOS Macintosh operating systems Macintosh operating systems user interface MacOS-only software made by Apple Inc.