ChangeShortName 1.3

ChangeShortName is an easy-to-use utility that does the dirty work involved in changing the short name of a user's account in Mac OS X (versions 10.4.x and 10.3.x). It can also repair some problems that occur when a user has attempted to change their short username manually and done so incorrectly. For safety, it backs up the NetInfo database beforehand.

Changing your short username is a serious procedure, but ChangeShortName makes doing so easier and safer.

ChangeShortName is "donationware" by James Bucanek and Dan Frakes. Be sure to read the included documentation before using it.

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Version 1.3:

Complete rewrite of the ChangeShortName Helper application, which has been renamed ChangeShortName (i.e., without the "Helper"). The new version is a Cocoa application with a new interface that's easier to use and provides more—and more useful—information and feedback. The downside of this rewrite is that the ChangeShortName application is no longer compatible with Mac OS X 10.2.x; users of Jaguar will need to use the standalone changeshortname.command script.
ChangeShortName's underlying shell script—which does all the dirty work—has been renamed changeshortname.command to differentiate it from the main ChangeShortName application and is now embedded within the application package. (The raw script is still provided separately, but you no longer need to keep it with the application for the application to work properly.)
The application no longer launches Terminal to run the underlying script, which should make ChangeShortName less intimidating for non-Terminal-savvy users; shell output is now displayed directly in the application window.
Added a Restart option to both the ChangeShortName script (-r) and the graphical interface (via a checkbox); this option is recommended if you're changing the short username of a user that's currently logged in.
Changed the underlying script to work with an existing short username that contains a hyphen (-). Because Apple warns against including a hyphen in a short username, previous versions of ChangeShortName would not attempt to change such a name, but we had enough requests for this capability that we added it.
Edited the NetInfo-recovery process in this ReadMe to work around a >console bug in Mac OS X.

Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or earlier. (Can be used with Mac OS X 10.2 using the included Terminal script.) NOTE: The current version, 1.3, is NOT compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard); an update will be released.