There are a few control panels which allow adjustments the system

General Controls Control Panel

Here you can choose a number of system options.

Show Desktop when in background allows you to choose whether you want to be able to see the icons on the desktop when another application is active. I like it turned on particularly to be able to view the trash while in other applications.

Show Launcher at system startup If you use the Launcher this gives you access to it when you first start up.

Shut Down Warning If this is checked you will be presented with a dialog box at startup reminding you when your Mac was improperly shutdown (crashed or had to be hard restarted). This is probably good to use for beginners or if other inexperienced users have access to the machine. Eventually you will likely turn it off as it can become annoying to be reminded of something which you already know.

Folder Protection You can lock either or both your System Folder and Applications folder, this will prevent any changes from being made while all the files and folders will be readable. Again a good idea if other inexperienced users have access. These options will not be available here if you have File Sharing turned on.

Insertion Point Blinking You can adjust the speed at which your cursor blinks when it is a line in a document waiting for you to type something. This is handy for locating where that point is.

Menu Blinking This is a feature of questionable value. When you choose an option from a drop down or pop up menu it will blink after(?) you have made the choice. Here you choose how many times you want it to blink. Set it to "Off".

Documents Here you choose which folder you would like the open/save dialog box to default to. The folder set by the application is generally in the folder the application itself is located. Especially for beginners I would suggest putting all your created documents in your "Documents" folder. This keeps all your documents in a single place for easy retrieval and back up.

Mouse Control Panel

This is where you adjust the sensitivity of your mouse's movement and the speed two clicks become a double click. Experiment with these controls to find the settings which are most comfortable for you. You may find that for certain tasks you will want to make temporary adjustments. For instance for graphic editing you might want to set the tracking to very slow to gain better control of the mouse's movement.

Numbers Control Panel

Here you determine the format your Mac will use for numbers and currency.

Text Control Panel

Here you can assign the language scripts that you may have installed.

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