[AlanMitchell]

Maybe a dumb question... but why does most every folder (and the desktop) have a file called _localized? I assume it has some point for being there. And with everything else on Panther so elegantly designed, why is this file left visible?

Thanks for your help!

[Developer]

It's .localized

This file tells the Finder that it shall display a localized name for this folder. That's for the standard folders (Applications, Utilities, Library, Destkop, Music, Movies etc. pp.)
Non standard localized folders have a .localized extension and a hidden file containing the localized display names.

[AlanMitchell]

Thanks for the reply... but on my machine, it IS "_localized", and the file is visible most everywhere.

So I'm still confused as to why it's left visible.

[gorickey]

Originally posted by AlanMitchell:
Thanks for the reply... but on my machine, it IS "_localized", and the file is visible most everywhere.

So I'm still confused as to why it's left visible.

Do you have other hidden system files visible all the time?

[Developer]

It shouldn't be _localized. It should be .localized and because that starts with a dot those files are invisible. Maybe some dumb app was renaming them. When did you start seeing those files? That might give you a hint who is the culprit.

I would trash them. A _localized file has no meaning to the OS, and I assume you use the OS in English, so you don't necessarily have to care about having .localized files too.