Control Panel - Clock, Language, and Region

The majority of users pay absolutely no attention to this category, and really there is no reason to be concerned with it unless there is an unusual event that necessitates adjusting the date and time settings or installing a different or additional system language. Those events don't happen often as most users set the date and time when Vista is first installed or during the setup phase of a newly acquired system.

Figure 01

Date and Time - A category you aren't likely to visit very often, but bear in mind every operation you perform on the system is dated and time stamped. It is important to keep the time set accurately.

Figure 02	Date and Time Tab - The only thing different from previous versions of Windows is you now need administrative privileges to change the date and time. If you happen to forget when Daylight Saving Time is scheduled to begin, look here and the information is available.
Figure 03	Additional Clocks - If you do business with other parts of the country and world, constantly having to do a quick mental calculation to convert their time to your time can become annoying, not to mention prone to errors. Vista allows you to add two additional clocks that are visible when you hover the mouse over the time display in the taskbar notification area. Very handy.
Figure 04	Internet Time - By default the system connects to time.windows.com to synchronize the system clock to an internet time server. Use the [Change Settings] button if you'd like to select a different time server or if you want to discontinue automatic synchronization. You can also synchronize manually if desired. The system does have to be online at the time the connection is attempted for auto synchronization to be successful.

Regional and Language Options -  Here's another category the majority of users will never visit, but if you do have a need to change the language or regional options this is where they are hidden away. At first blush there may not appear to be a lot here, but go through the tabs and the other screens hiding behind the [Customize This Format] button and you'll be amazed at the number of ways date, time, and currency options can be displayed.

Figure 05

 

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