Straight talk about the Year 2000 (Y2K)

The year 2000 (Y2K) problems came about because computer programmers years ago, used two-digit rather than four-digit fields to represent the year. The century was understood to be "19". Thus, affected systems are unable to distinguish the year 2000 from the year 1900.

Problems occur in any program that uses the date which has not been programmed to use the four-digit year or to deal with a date sequence that encompasses the cross-over from the 19th century to the 20th century. Some systems have used different starting dates (i.e. 1904 or 1956) and are automatically OK until one reaches the date of change to a new century (i.e. 2004 or 2056).

Ever wonder why your Macintosh clock (when the clock battery runs down) reverts to 1956? Theoretically, your old Macintosh should automatically be OK to 2056. Programs like Microsoft Works 3.0 recognize a starting date of 1904 so 2004 would be 1904???? Get it??

Just try this in a Microsoft Works data base:

Enter the date (in a date field) of 1 Feb 98.
You will see 2/1/98
Enter a date of 1 Feb 2004
You will see 2/1/04 and it will be 2004 for all calculations.
Enter a date of 1 Feb 2011
You will see 2/1/04 but it will be 1911 for all calculations.
Microsoft Works 3.0 is OK to 2010!!
(BTW, anydate prior to 1904 is invalid!!!)
Weird huh!!!!
Of course, who uses Microsoft Works 3 anymore besides me??

Try a similar test in your own favorite data base and see how long it can work!

All personal computer applications have (hopefully) long been re-written with the Y2K problem solved. If we all keep up-to-date with our personal computer applications we should have no problem on our personal computer. The Y2K problems have all been solved for the personal computer for people that up-date their applications (and for people that do not have extended time lines in their files).

The problems occur for us when we access large "online" or "business" data bases, etc. that were programmed years ago before anyone even thought we would reach the year 2000.(I remember when the book "1984" was considered to be future beyond comprehension.) It is these large "online" and "business" computers that have to be laborously "searched" and "changed" to make the "world still continue" (rather than revert back a century or become "invalid") when the Y2K time arrives.

Every company has approached this "Y2K" problem and has run (or is running) "advanced-date" environment tests on their systems to make sure that they will continue to work. The fear though, is that some small component of each of these systems will not be discovered and that the systems will "crash" in the actual (not advanced-environment testing) year 2000. All programmers and businesses will literally "hold their breathe" with "fingers crossed" on the stroke of midnight of 2000.

BTW, what time zone are we talking about???
That opens another whole topic on the time factor and the relationship to Greenwich mean-time -- what is that????
Back to the beginning text books in grade school huh? Time zones in computers are calculated on their differentiation from Greenwich mean-time!!!

Your Macintosh is OK!!