SOFTWARE released by Microsoft only four years ago will not cope with the
date change from 1999 to 2000, the company says. Microsoft is still testing some
of its products to discover the effect of the millennium bug, but many older
programs will never be tested.
Older versions of Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 cannot cope with the date
change. Microsoft has posted some software fixes on the Internet, but the
company is still investigating the full extent of the problem. Version 2 of the
popular Access database program, released in April 1994, will read the two-digit
date 鈥�00鈥� as 鈥�1900鈥�.
People with DOS-based software may suffer most. These programs are still
widely used in both homes and offices. Version 5 of the DOS word processor Word
has serious problems. Documents dated 2000 or later may corrupt when saved. The
computer then freezes and refuses to work until shut down, and valuable data may
be lost. Microsoft suggests that users upgrade their software.
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Microsoft says it has no idea how many people are still using problem
software. Don Cruickshank, who heads the British government鈥檚 Action 2000 body
set up to publicise the problem, says that Microsoft鈥檚 complex website is better
than nothing. 鈥淭he people who distribute software should not hide behind
Microsoft鈥檚 jargon, he says, 鈥渆ven though it may be painful for them to go out
and tell customers that what they sold them three years ago is faulty鈥�.