The Year 2000 Bug Essays - Software, Computer Virus,

The Year 2000 Bug Do you have a home computer or a small business with a computer? You have undoubtedly read or heard information about the upcoming new century and are wondering if you need to do something to help your PC make the transition into the year 2000. This site is constructed to help you answer that question, and to help you sort fact from fiction. The way that your computer system will be affected by the year 2000 will depend not only on the equipment and software that you have, but on the way you use your PC and rely on it. If you only use your PC to play games, you probably won't need to be concerned about year 2000 issues. On the other hand, if you use your PC for managing finances or to store important date-sensitive information, you may want to learn more to determine if your particular system is at risk?and what you can do to minimize that risk. Anti-virus software available for 90 day trial - free of charge To assist in helping small/medium businesses and consumers to deploy anti-virus software, Microsoft has teamed with leading anti-virus firms Central Command Inc., Computer Associates International Inc., Data Fellows Corp., Network Associates Inc., Norman ASA, Panda Software, Sophos Inc., Symantec Corp. and Trend Micro Inc., to provide fully functional anti-virus trial software to small & medium businesses and consumers in preparation for the Year 2000. The anti-virus software can be downloaded free of charge from November 1 through December 31. Once downloaded, the anti-virus software will be functional for 90 days. Microsoft Policies on Software Distribution Beware of an E-mail Claiming to Contain an Upgrade from Microsoft! Malicious users try to camouflage harmful software in an effort to get others to run it. Several e-mails are claiming to contain upgrades of Microsoft software and some are claiming Windows 95 and Windows 98 will fail on Jan. 1. However, Microsoft does not distribute software by e-mail and Windows 95 and 98 are compliant. If you receive such an e-mail, delete it or report to the sender's Internet Service Provider If you are uncertain about your specific situation, you probably need more information! To help you get that information, we've designed an easy-to-follow tour for you to help you understand the issues and to help you make decisions that are right for you and your PC. We'll take you through the first three sections of this site in the following order: 1. Introduction: We'll start with an overview of the year 2000 issue. 2. Exploring your PC: Next, we'll explain how the year 2000 issue affects each area of your PC system. 3. Taking Action: And finally, we'll help you to make and carry out a readiness plan that is right for you. After you have completed the tour, you'll want to visit the Learning More section of this site. It contains a glossary, a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ), a collection of handy year 2000 tips, lots of useful information and links to other sites. Are you ready to get started? Just follow me! I'll show you where to go! The year 2000 issue is a general term that really refers to three separate date-related computing issues, each of which can potentially produce misinterpretations or miscalculations. 1. The first issue is related to the way computer hardware and software traditionally stored date information. Historically, programmers specified a year using two digits (99) rather than four digits (1999). By assuming the first two digits of the year, precious memory and storage of a computer was saved. This was an economical shortcut for programmers that made good sense twenty-five years ago, but stopped making sense as we approached a new century. Though programming practices have changed in recent years, some computer hardware and software may still have difficulty interpreting the year after the turn of the century. And if the computer system stores or works with an unintended date, any calculations or information based on that date could lead to incorrect results. Another contributing factor to this issue is the everyday practice of people to use only two digits to specify a year. Though each of us is accustomed to