Mac: can I create custom region settings, copy, distribute and reuse it?

"The corresponding keys in a preference file are stored in a file called .GlobalPreferences.plist in your user's Preferences folder. You can if you want to copy this file to Dropbox (I highly suggest dropping the period in front of it when copying it to your Dropbox) and copy that to the user's Preferences folder. There are several other items that are stored in that file that you may inadvertently reset so I would recommend using a script to run the defaults command to apply your desired changes.

I'd recommend opening the .GlobalPreferences.plist file in Property List Viewer (part of the Developer Tools), or in your favourite text editor (after converting from a binary plist to an xml one to make reading the values much easier - plutil -convert xml1 ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist)

Copying File

cp ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist ~/Dropbox/GlobalPreferences.plist
# On Next Computer
cp ~/Dropbox/GlobalPreferences.plist ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

Defaults Command

#!/bin/sh
#Example from my .GlobalPreferences

/usr/bin/defaults write ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist AppleLocale -string ""en_CA""
/usr/bin/defaults write ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist AppleICUDateFormatStrings -dict 1 ""MM/dd/yy""

Not being familiar with the other keys involved I can't say what the other bits are but if you'd like to post the output of

usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c Print ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

to Paste Bin or somewhere else I can offer to help fill in the missing defaults commands. I'd also recommend cleaning the output of items such as NSNavRecentPlaces for when posting publicly."

"Use something like Carbon Copy Cloner to backup your current OSX installation, which is tweaked just the way you want it and migrate it to the machine you want your new installation on.

For those unfamiliar with the concept
of a clone , it’s an exact copy of a
volume, preserving all invisible
files, permissions, metadata, and
other information that some
traditional backup applications—as
well as the Finder—don’t actually
copy. In fact, an accurate clone is
the only way to create a bootable
backup of a Mac OS X disk—a backup
that lets you get back up and running
in a matter of minutes, as opposed to
the hours it might take you to
reinstall Mac OS X on a drive and then
restore your files. (Note that you
need to clone to a drive that’s
actually capable of booting a Mac; not
all drives are.)

But a clone is also useful when
upgrading to a major new version of
Mac OS X: You can clone your Mac’s
hard drive to another drive; then use
the OS X Installer to perform an Erase
And Install of the new OS on your Mac;
and then connect the clone to your Mac
and use Setup Assistant to
automatically migrate your user
accounts, settings, and data from the
backup to the new OS X installation.

Or you need something like Slipy

to create a slipstreamed version of your OSX installer. However Slipy 1.3 (which I linked) is from 2005 and I have no idea if you can use it on newer versions of OSX.

I'll keep looking to see what I can find.

Product Description:

Slipy is a utility used to create a
Mac OS X install DVD disk images from
your existing Mac OS X 10.3 install or
upgrade CD set, Mac OS X 10.3 Server
install CD set or Mac OS X 10.3
install DVD. In addition, Slipy can
create automated installs and will
allow you to ""slipstream"" or add
additional software installations to
your install DVD. Once created, simply
use Disk Utility to burn your custom
image to DVD.

Or use a tool like INSTAHackintosh OS X DVD Builder which let's you tweak your DVD installer. If you don't tweak anything but the regional settings you wanted it should be no problem."