Options, Settings, Properties, Configuration, Preferences — when and why?

Question

There are several words with similar (in some sense) meaning:

Options, Settings, Properties, Configuration, Preferences

English is n

Answer 1

These aren't set anywhere, but I figured I might as well chip in my 2¢ on the topic. When I see these in an application, this is what they imply to me:

• Settings: "View or modify the list of things that can be set"
• Options: "We have set some things already, and give you the option to change them"
• Preferences: "Tell us how you prefer this to work"
• Properties: "Change one or more properties of this item"
• Edit: "This thing is already in a good state, but you can change it if you like"
• Configuration: "We have defaults, but they're so barebones you probably want to configure it yourself"