You can use the Network preference panel to create and manage several independent profiles of network configuration information, known as Locations. This is handy when you have to manually configure your network settings for the office but want to use your computer easily on DHCP-based networks at home or at the local coffee house. Locations are managed using the Location menu in the Network preference panel, shown in Figure 11-9.

By default, all Mac OS X systems have a location named Automatic . To create a new location, select New Location from the Location menu. After naming the location, it appears in the pop-up menu. When you choose a location, you can configure it as needed. When you hit Apply Now, your changes are applied and your Mac attempts to connect to that network location.

Once you have defined multiple locations, you can switch between them without going into the Network preference panel; instead, you use the → Location menu. This menu also gives you a quick shortcut to the Network preference panel.