Many computer user interfaces use a control panel metaphor to give the user control of software and hardware features. The control panel consists of multiple settings including display settings, network settings, user account settings and hardware settings. Some control panels require the user to have admin rights or root access.
The term control panel was used for the plugboards in unit record equipment and in the early computers of the 1940s and '50s. In the 1980s, the Xerox Star and the Apple Lisa, which pioneered the first graphical user interface metaphors, controlled user settings by single click selections and variable fields. In 1984 the Apple Macintosh in its initial release made use of fundamental graphic representation of a "control panel board" imitating the operation of slider controls, on/off buttons and radio-select buttons that corresponded to user settings.
There are many tasks grouped in a control panel:
Accessibility
Seeing
Font size and contrast
Screen magnifier
Screen reader
Hearing
System sounds visual indication
Typing
On-screen keyboard
Sticky keys
Color
Color management
Computer displays
Brightness
Contrast
Color calibration
Energy saving
Gamma correction
Screen resolution and orientation
Graphics tablet
Keyboard
Shortcuts and bindings
Language and layout
Text cursor appearance
Mouse and touchpad
Power management
Energy saving
Battery usage
Display brightness
Power button actions
Power plans
Printers and scanners
Sound
Bluetooth connection and file exchange
Ethernet connection
Internet Accounts
E-mail integration
Social media integration
Wi-Fi connection
System-wide proxy
Certificates and password management
Firewall
Filesystem encryption
Privacy
File indexing and event tracking
Data sharing
Login window
System information
Hostname
System time
Calendar system
NTP server
Time zone
Software management
Application management
System update configuration
Software sources
In Microsoft Windows operating systems, the Control Panel is where various computer settings can be modified. This control panel can also be opened by using the control command inside a command prompt. This command also allows programs and applications to open the control panel remotely.
In the classic Mac OS, a control panel served a similar purpose. In macOS, the equivalent to control panels are referred to as System Preferences.
In web hosting, browser-based control panels, such as CPanel and Plesk, are used to manage servers, web services and users.
There are different control panels in free desktops, like GNOME, KDE, Webmin...
