Shareware authors Alex Keresztes and Greg Novick have updated Location X, the US$20 location manager for Mac OS X, to version 2.0, which offers a new user interface, new customization options and more.
Location X brings the Location Manager functionality of Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X. With it, you can change network, time zone, e-mail settings and more with a single mouse click. You can implement custom settings for various locations, such as home, school and work.
The utility was designed to allow third parties to develop plug-ins that will let you change even more settings than those provided in the Location X package. The package does include built in plug-ins that let you change your network configuration, Apple Mail settings, time zone, Entourage settings, sound volume, default printer, QuickTime connection speed, Energy Saver settings and Internet preferences, as well as run AppleScripts and shell scripts.
Location X 2.0’s revamped user interface offers a new location detail drawer, which pops out below your location list and allows you to quickly view and edit your location settings. With the update, you can choose the order of your location options. You can drag the options around in the location list to specify the order in which your settings are changed. What’s more, you can have multiple instances of each option.
With version 2.0, you can authorize each Location X plug-in in the Security pane of the preferences window so you won’t have to enter your password again. The update also includes two new plug-ins. The Energy Saver plug-in allows you to change your Energy Saver preferences, while the Internet plug-in lets you alter your Web browser’s home page or your default SMTP server. Also included is an enhanced Entourage plug-in, with which you can switch details of your SMTP server and change which e-mail accounts are in your “Send and Receive All” schedule.
Location X 2.0 requires Mac OS X 10.2 (“Jaguar”) or 10.3 (“Panther”). A trial version can be downloaded at the product Web site.