If you haven't heard of the Year 2000 issue as it relates to computers - that includes yours - you must have had your head in the sand over the past two years. This issue is IMPORTANT - very important. The various world governments are taking it so seriously they are sponsoring major web sites and spending a LOT of money to investigate and try to prepare for and prevent as much as possible the disruption that will inevitably result.

We're not talking about minor hiccoughs in programs, we're talking of potentially major disruptions to any computer or computer program relying on the old "standard" two digit date scheme. Most of the problems seem to be in administrative and financial programs, or in the hard-coded microcomputers found in electronic equipment. But these areas encompass banking, finance, payroll, scheduling, process control equipment (eg factories, production lines, traffic control), monitoring equipment (eg hospitals, industry, power supplies), gps navigation systems (eg aircraft and ships), etc - ANY program that relies on dates for any part of it's function. It is widely accepted that unless this issue is addressed thoroughly there is a serious potential for loss of life due to the failure of simple or major computerised systems we all take for granted.

This will be the first in a series or articles on the problem, and what you can and should do about it. NOW is the time to start planning, particularly if your business relies on computers for any part of it's operation.

The issues we will consider in this and future newsletters include:

• What IS the "millenium bug" or the Y2K problem and how could it affect you.
• Year 2000 compliance - hardware; operating systems; software
• How can you check your computer and software for Year 2000 problems? And what you can do if/when you find them

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So, what IS the problem - well after December 31st 1999, computers and some other processing devices won't know what year it is. It is frequently inaccurately referred to as the "millenium bug" (although the next millenium will not start until 2001). The Y2K (Y for Year, 2K=2000) problem arises from assumptions that were made to conserve storage space when computers were initially developed. It takes considerably less overhead to store dates in two digit format than four. The turn of the century was then so far into the future that little thought was given to allowing for dates that used more than 2 digits to represent them. Currently most computers store dates as dd-mm-yy (day-month-year) using 2 digits to represent day, month and year. This same technique was also used when the microchips that are embedded in many kinds of machinery and equipment were hard-coded.

For some computers after midnight December 31st 1999 the date will roll back to 1900, which is wrong. Others simply won't know what date it is. These date problems might lead a program or controller to miscalculate or terminate. The program may be a simple application calculating your bank account interest, or a life controlling pacemaker. We have seen a number of cases over the last 12 months where Eudora for example will not work properly if the system clock on your computer is set 100 years in the future. And yet, the basic version of Eudora does not immediately seem to have any date critical functions.

The fact is "we", poor dumb humans, don't really know yet what the full risks and ramifications of the Year 2000 computer problem are.

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For the computer user, the known potential problems exist on three levels - Hardware; Operating System and Applications Software.

Hardware problems:
In some cases, the hardware on which important applications run will itself be unable to process data after the 20th century. Old mainframes that are still in operation are particularly susceptible; similarly old, still operational industrial or process controllers. (The editor hopes all governments have the good sense to disable any still operational "doomsday devices"; weapons control systems until fully tested; old nuclear power-plants etc.) If your business relies on any computerised equipment - from wheel aligners to process controllers and clever timers etc - contact the manufacturer and inquire whether they are susceptible to date roll-over problems. If you rely on an old mainframe system that can't cope with the change, you will also need to consider whether your old software will run at all on a new system, and if it will, then whether it has any date roll-over problems.

Operating System problems:
Operating systems are just as potentially susceptible to the Y2K problem, and solving this issue is just as important. To date we have been unable to determine the compliance status of the PICK or BOS operating systems but we suspect they, like the old Xenix operating system, will not be supported for Year 2000 compliance.

What we have been able to locate so far is the following:

Microsoft and Y2K - all OS's will at least need patches; some (eg Dos 5) are not compliant at all; many still under testing:

http://www.microsoft.com/year2000/

http://www.microsoft.com/ithome/topics/year2k/product/product.htm

IBM and the Year 2000 - some OS's are Year 2000 ready; fixpacks available for others; some still under revision and testing:

http://www.ibm.com/IBM/year2000/

Apple Macintosh:- "... the Mac OS and most Mac applications will handle the year 2000 (and the next 27,940 years), no problem."

http://www.apple.com/macos/info/2000.html

Sun Microsystems - Solaris; Java; etc

http://www.sun.com/y2000/

Silicon Graphics - Irix; etc

http://www.sgi.com/tech/year2000/

Unix:- some current versions seem Y2K compliant already; some sources are also cautiously advising users to be on the lookout for undiscovered bugs; some older versions (eg XENIX) are not going to be supported:

BSD/OS; BSDI:

http://www.BSDI.COM/info/year2000.mhtml

FreeBSD:

http://www.freebsd.org/y2kbug.html

Linux:

http://www.linux.org/help/beginner/year2000.html

SCO Unix/Xenix:

http://www.sco.com/year2000/

BeOS - well it's a brand new OS using a 64 bit file system and written from the ground up. They claim it is Year 2000 ready but I can't find a compliancy statement - yet ;-)

http://www.be.com/

Software problems:
This is where the biggest headache is likely to occur. The only course of action is to do a complete audit of all the applications packages you use, and contact the manufacturer or their web site to determine their Year 2000 compliance status. There is no easy way out of this one.

Most Microsoft software uses the two digit date notation, so most will require replacing, patching or updating to Year 2000 readiness.

If you are using a custom written program, you will need to contact the author/programmer and enquire as to it's usability after Dec 31, 1999.

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Is the Y2K problem likely to affect the internet?
Some press reports claim the internet will collapse at midnight the 31st of December 1999. This, however, is wrong as far as those in the best position to know can determine. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has issued an RFC from which the following is a small extract:

"The Year 2000 Working Group (WG) has conducted an investigation into the millennium problem as it regards Internet related protocols. This investigation only targeted the protocols as documented in the Request For Comments Series (RFCs). This investigation discovered little reason for concern with regards to the functionality of the protocols. A few minor cases of older implementations still using two digit years (ala RFC 850) were discovered, but almost all Internet protocols were given a clean bill of health. ... Areas whose protocols will be effected by such problems have been notified so that new revisions will remove this limitation. "

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Now it's up to you to ensure your machine and applications have what it takes to see you through the Year 2000. Please bear in mind that the manufacturers are in most cases doing their best to update products to avoid the issue, but the problem is complex. Legal departments are already starting to advise manufacturers to word any "compliance" statement carefully to avoid potential liability should some unforseen problem arise. Now would also be a good time to investigate backup systems for valuable data if you haven't already, and have complete WORKING backups before the 1999 New Years Party.

Editors note: just to be on the safe side ... don't plan to fly anywhere on New Years Eve, 1999.

Further reading:
The Australian Government's Year 2000 Home Page
http://www.y2k.gov.au/
Office of Government Information Technology Year 2000 Project Office (Australian)
http://www.ogit.gov.au/year2000/yr2000.html
Year 2000 Information Center
http://www.year2000.com/
The US President's Council on the Year 2000 Conversion
http://www.y2k.gov/
Legal and Management Information on the Year 2000 Computer Problem sponsored and developed by WILLIAMS, MULLEN, CHRISTIAN & DOBBINS, US Attorneys
http://www.y2k.com/
Year2000NEWS - Year2000Daily ... the Web's best source for millennium bug news!
http://www.year2000news.com/

Next issue:
Australian Government incentives - revenue deductions to assist Australian businesses to deal with the Year 2000 compliance issue.
Methods you can use to test your computer and applications programs.
Other "problem dates".