LOGIN ITEMS still appears in User/Groups in SIERRA.
Is the new "launching process" something new to HIGH SIERRA?
The "new launching process" has been around for a good while now. I don't remember when it first appeared but I am thinking Mavericks (OS X 10.9) maybe even earlier. Apple has been urging app developers to use the LaunchItems/LaunchDaemons since that time. The idea is to get as much as possible under the control of
launchd and
launchctl to schedule and control launching of apps/utilities/
etc. so that they don't inadvertently (or intentionally) interfere with one another and help assure reliability and security. You haven't noticed it because installing the LaunchDeamons and LaunchAgents is taken care either by the installer when an app is installed or by the app itself when you check the box labeled
Start at login (or something similar).
Although Login Items has been deprecated and generally is eschewed by developers it is still present in High Sierra, probably because it is a simple way for users to launch apps automatically at login time, but even there I think there have been changes
under the hood in how that is implemented in the OS. For anyone with a modicum of programming skills writing a LaunchAgent for just about any app is not that difficult (for more info open Terminal and enter…
But there are a lot of users with zero programming skills and even less interest in acquiring any, so Login Items still sticks around — at least for now.
For details on launchd, LaunchDaemons, and LaunchAgents go to Terminal and enter…