Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) gives you extensive options for setting and displaying dates and times exactly as you want. It only requires setting a few preferences. To begin, open the Mac OS X 10.5 System Preferences and select the International preferences pane. Next, select the Formats tab.


International preferences pane format pane

Setting Dates

To set dates, click the Customize... button on the top section of the Formats pane (above Calendar). Another pane will open with several options for customizing dates.


Date options pane in Mac OS X Leopard


You can choose to display the date in four lengths:

  • Short - The date will be displayed only in numbers for the month, date and year (3/21/2009).
  • Medium - The month will appear as an abbreviated word, but the date and year will appear as numbers (Mar 21, 2009).
  • Long - The month will appear as a complete word, but the date and year will appear as numbers (March 21, 2009).
  • Full - The day and month will appear as complete words and the date and year will appear as numbers (Saturday, March 21, 2009).

To set the length for the display of dates, click the button next to Show and select the option you want from the drop-down menu. Note that you can change any of the formats by adding and subtracting items from the lower part of the pane so it appears that the Show option is merely a shortcut for setting the display options.

To add an item from the lower part of the pane, drag it to the text box above the Date Elements options and under the Show option. To remove an item, highlight it and then press the Delete key. You can also change some of the items you add by clicking the arrow at the end of an item and selecting a variation of the item from the drop-down menu that appears (for example, you can change the year from 09 to 2009).


Date element options in Mac OS X Leopard


When you have finished setting date options, click the OK button to return to the Formats pane.

Setting Times

Your options for setting times are similar to those for dates. To access the options, click the Customize... button in the Times section of the Formats pane. The Times Customization pane will open with several options for customizing times.


Time options pane in Mac OS X Leopard


Like the Dates option, you can choose to display the time in four lengths:

  • Short - The time will be displayed with the hour and minutes, and, if you selected the US as your region, with AM or PM after the time (8:45 PM).
  • Medium - The time will be displayed with the hour, minutes and seconds, and, if you selected the US as your region, with AM or PM after the time (8:45:23 PM).
  • Long/Full - The time will be displayed with the hour, minutes and seconds, and, if you selected the US as your region, with AM or PM after the time, followed by the abbreviation for the time zone (8:45:23 PM EST).

To set the length for the display of times, click the button next to Show and select the option you want from the drop-down menu. Note that you can change any of the formats by adding and subtracting items from the lower part of the pane so it appears that the Show option is merely a shortcut for setting the display options.

To add an item from the lower part of the pane, drag it to the text box above the Time Elements options and under the Show option. To remove an item, highlight it and then press the Delete key. You can also change some of the items you add by clicking the arrow at the end of an item and selecting a variation of the item from the drop-down menu that appears (for example, you can change EST to Eastern Standard Time).


Time element options in Mac OS X Leopard


When you have finished setting time options, click the OK button to return to the Formats pane.