Y2K Update
Year 2000, Y2K, Millennium Bug - What's the truth ?? If you've been watching all the news regarding the turn of the century you can easily come away with the impression that 2000 is not going to be a Happy New Year - due to the Y2K or Millennium Bug. There are rumors that the turn of the century will bring widespread systems failures in banks, utility companies and all levels of government. Closer to home, rumors say your checkbook, spreadsheet and scheduling programs will shut down or your PC or Macintosh computer will simply cease functioning. Is it all hype ? For the most part - YES. Like any other rumor in the computer world, the Y2K rumors get more and more fantastic as they are retold around the net. Plus there are a few folks out there that see the Y2K bug as an opportunity to make a quick buck off of worried consumers. You see everything from companies willing to save your home computer from certain doom to a guy on TV telling you to put all your money into a tin box and come live in his survival camp in the mountains until spring. So what's the truth? Will the electric company shut down ? Will the cash in your checking account suddenly disappear ? Will ice cream melt in your freezer ? Will your dog run away from home ? Will your in-laws come to live at your house ? The answer to this question has 4 parts - Hardware, Operating System, Software, Files Hardware - The Y2K bug is centered around a chip in every computer called the Real Time Clock or RTC. The RTC is a clock that resides in your home computer and is running all the time, even when you computer is off. The first question in wether or not your home computer is ready for Y2K is wether the RTC generates the year in 2 or 4 digits. In other words, will it report the first day of the new century as 1/1/2000 or simply 1/1/00. Operating System -Assuming the RTC in your computer is able to report the year correctly, the next level of investigation is whether the Operating System, or OS, on your computer reads the year correctly and sends it to the applications you use. Some OS's are Y2K compliant only if you take certain steps. For example, Macintosh MacOS 7.5 or above requires that you have specified the YYYY-MM-DD for the short date format order and placed a checkmark in the Show Century box under Date Formats... in the Date & Time Control Panel. Software - If your RTC and OS handle the year correctly, your next concern is your applications. Does each application on your computer read it correctly and use it correctly in any calculations that rely on date ? Files -Finally, if everything else is fine, you may have macros or formulas embedded in Excel spreadsheets or like programs that use the year incorrectly - in other words use 2 digit years. How can you find out if you have a problem ? Most places you look on the web for home tests for Y2K you will see a test that tells you to set the clock on your computer ahead to 5 minutes before midnight, then turn it off, wait 5 minutes and boot it up and see if the date is reported correctly. There are two basic problems with this test. First, passing this test does not tell you much. It just tells you your RTC is "Y2K Compliant". You can still have big problems in your Operating System and applications. Second, if you do have Y2K problems, this test can sometimes trigger them before you have a chance to correct them. OK So Who's Gonna Fix This? Almost every computer hardware and software company on the planet is busy testing their products for "Y2K Compliance". The definition of Y2K compliance varies but it boils down to two things
For your hardware, check the manufacturer's web page for answers. Almost all of them have detailed reports on their Y2K status. Most have a lookup table so you can check your specific model or machine. Some even have test tools you can run against your computer that will verify your Y2K status without endangering your data or software licenses. Here's a few web pages put out by computer manufacturers with detailed Y2K information.
To find out about operating system troubles, the manufacturer's web page is again the best source.
Finally you need to check your software and your files. Obvious places to look for trouble are your checkbook program, your spreadsheets, your calendar program and anything else with an obvious reliance on the date. A less obvious place where trouble can occur is any software program with a timed license that needs to be renewed. You might wake up on January 1, 2000 and find you can no longer play that cool computer game you love because it thinks your license has expired or your 90 day trial version of some software package has suddenly expired. Most Software Manufacturers have info on their web sites. Microsoft does the best job so far, with tools that will not only check your hardware but will look inside your Excel spreadsheets and find and correct any problems. Check out the Microsoft Resource Page for details. The Apple Y2K site also has answers for software directly manufactured by Apple. For third party software, check the manufacturers web site. Here's a list of some other good Y2K information web pages by software vendors.
Other Sources A great all-around source for Y2K info is CNET's Y2K site
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