Mac OS 8.5: Date and Time Control Panel Features

What are the features of the Date and Time control panel?

The Date & Time 8.1 control panel now provides an option for automatic Daylight Saving Time switching as well as the ability to use a network time server to synchronize the Macintosh clock.

Select Show Balloons in the Help menu to get more information about each section of the Date & Time control panel.

Automatic Daylight-Saving Time
Click the Set Time Zone button to choose the nearest city in your time zone.
Enter the current date and time in the Current Date and Current Time windows.
Click the Set Daylight Saving Time Automatically checkbox in the Date & Time control panel. The Macintosh clock will automatically be adjusted for Daylight Saving Time.

Network Time Server
Check the Use a Network Time Server checkbox.
Click the Server Options button.
Select a Network Time Server from the pop-up menu.

Select an option for automatic, timed, or manual time updating. Note that if you select manual, you will not receive a notification that the connection was successful until you click OK and note the last synchronization time in the window.

Click the Set Time Now button to connect to the Network Time Server and set the Macintosh clock. You must have an active TCP/IP connection to the Internet to in order to connect to a network time server. If you are not connected to the Internet, the error message "Unable to set the time. Make sure TCP/IP is set up correctly and try again" will appear when attempting to set the time. Note that the error message can be misleading. If your computer is not connected to the Internet, the problem is that you cannot connect to a Network Time Server when not connected to the Internet.

For additional information on how to use this feature, click the Help button or open the Help Center (from the help menu) and type the name of the feature. Balloon Help can also answer questions about window contents, window controls and menu items in the Finder, Control Panels and Applications, where supported. To turn on Balloon Help, choose "Balloon Help" from the Help menu in the Finder.

Published Date: Feb 20, 2012