Finder date format in List View

Question

I want to tell Finder NOT to display the day of the week or the spelling of the month in the date columns when it is in List View.
I want this exactly, and nothing else:
mm/dd/yyyy 12:30
I want the month and day to always use two digits. It just think it looks better when a column of data is all formatted the same exact way. And, I don't need to know that 04/17/01 was a Thursday (or whatever it was)!
I know you can resize the columns to get various amounts of info and formats, but that's too much effort, plus you get all these weird ",..." filler garbage. Let's just make it simple!!!

Answer 1

I think the width of the column is the sole determinant of the date format shown in list views. I use an applescript to set the size, position and column width of Finder windows to my preferred specs; it sets the date column width so that a shorter (but not shortest) date format is used (because I'm picky about that, too ). You can easily tinker with the numbers so the sizing suits your own preferences.
-- works on frontmost Finder window;
-- settings appropriate for display res 1440x900
<code>
tell application "Finder"
set bounds of window 1 to {230, 120, 1260, 820}
set sidebar width of window 1 to 200
set width of column name column of list view options of window 1 to 280
set width of column modification date column of list view options of window 1 to 180
set width of column size column of list view options of window 1 to 100
set width of column kind column of list view options of window 1 to 180
end tell
</code>
Instructions for saving scripts in case you or other readers need them: Copy and paste the above into a new Script Editor document (or highlight and use the Services -> Script Editor menu). Save as file format: Script at this path -- ~/Library/Scripts/Applications/Finder/ -- creating any folders that don't already exist. You can change the numbers in the script and use the Run button in the Script Editor toolbar to test until you get something you're happy with.
HTH,
Lisa