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Meeting the Year 2000 Challenge

Understanding Year 2000 Issues

Microsoft has expanded and emphasized testing for year 2000 related issues in all Microsoft products, including Microsoft Office 2000. All products meet (or meet with minor issues) the requirements of the Microsoft Year 2000 Compliance Statement before they are released to manufacturing.

Note   If date-related issues are identified after a product is released, Microsoft addresses them through standard Microsoft Technical Support channels at no additional cost.

Consistent with Microsoft’s policy of compliance, Office 2000 is prepared for the year 2000 in the following ways:

  • Office 2000 applications store and calculate dates by using a four-digit year format.
  • Date fields contain only date functionality.
  • Office 2000 applications carry out accurate leap-year calculations.

If your organization uses technology from vendors other than Microsoft, including custom Excel macros or Access reports, then the following date issues might present problems in the year 2000:

  • Two-digit and four-digit date formats

Some applications use a two-digit rather than a four-digit date format to represent the year. With a two-digit format, some applications cannot reliably determine which century to use for the year 00 calculations.

  • Date fields that contain more than the date

Date fields sometimes contain not only the date, but also special functions that begin or end on a specific date. Date functions vary among organizations, so no single tool can provide consistent date and function adjustments.

  • Year 2000 leap-year anomaly

The year 2000 is an unusual leap year that happens only once every 400 years. A typical leap year is divisible by 4. However, years that are divisible by 100 are not leap years unless they are also divisible by 400. Some software systems and applications use a simple set of rules to calculate a leap year and do not recognize the year 2000 as a leap year.

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See also

The Microsoft Year 2000 Product Guide includes additional information about year 2000 date-handling capabilities in Microsoft products. For more information, see the Microsoft Year 2000 Resource Center Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/year2000/.

Microsoft Year 2000 Readiness Disclosure Statement

The information in this document is being designated a year 2000 readiness disclosure and is found at the Microsoft Year 2000 Web site located at http://www.microsoft.com/year2000/.

This information is provided pursuant to the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act for the sole purpose of assisting the planning for the transition to the year 2000. This document contains information currently available concerning the behavior of Microsoft’s products with respect to year 2000 processing and is updated regularly and subject to change. We therefore recommend that you check the information regularly for any changes.

The information in this document is provided “As Is” without warranty of any kind. Microsoft disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Moreover, Microsoft does not warrant or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the use of the information contained herein in terms of its correctness, accuracy, reliability, or otherwise. No oral or written information or advice given by Microsoft Corporation or its authorized representatives shall create a warranty or in any way decrease the scope of this warranty disclaimer. In no event shall Microsoft corporation or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits, punitive or special damages, even if Microsoft corporation or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the foregoing limitation may not apply to you. The information in this document is found at the Year 2000 Web site and is intended to be read in conjunction with other information located at the Year 2000 Web site, including but not limited to Microsoft’s year 2000 compliance statement, the description of the categories of compliance into which Microsoft has classified its products in its year 2000 product guide, and the Microsoft year 2000 test criteria.

Any statements made to you by Microsoft or contained herein in the course of providing year 2000 related fixes, year 2000 diagnostic tools, or remediation services (if any) are subject to the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act (112 Stat. 2386). In case of a dispute, this act may reduce your legal rights regarding the use of any such statements, unless otherwise specified by your contract or tariff.
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  Friday, March 5, 1999
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