Mac Musings

Mac Y2K Problems

Dan Knight - 8 February 1999

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core Memory 4GB kit $192 / 2GB kit $109. MacBook Pro / MacMini / iMac Intel Core2 DUO 2GB $44 1GB $23--Free shipping available.

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, Apple Displays, MacBooks, iMac's, MacBook Pros, Laptop and iPod accessories and more. Apple A/C Adapters for laptops starting at $25.00 Call 1-800-941-7654 or Click Here.

Other World Computing: OWC Mercury Elite FW800/FW400/USB2/eSATA TOP-RATED Solutions offer High Performance, Reliable storage for all your data storage needs. Industry leading 2yr limited + up to 5yr HD Mechanism Warranty too! Up to 2.0TB(2000GB), 500GB specials from $199.99

Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.

MacPro Memory 667Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB Kit $ 90 / 4GB Kit $140 / 8GB Kit $278 Click to Maximize your Macs...

Articles circulated in the past few days note that Mac users shouldn't be too smug about the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem - the Mac is not immune. (See c|net and Yahoo stories.)

The problem isn't Macintosh hardware (even the first Mac can handle dates until A.D. 2040) or the Mac OS (which works correctly through AD 2019).* And it isn't a problem with most software programs, which use Apple's date routines and can ride into the next millennium with ease.

The problem is, as Pedagoguery Software notes (and hopes to use to convince Mac owners to buy Pedagoguery's Y2K testing software), is that some programs use their own date routines.

Even that needn't be a problem, as long as the date routines are compatible either with the Mac way of tracking dates or use four-digit years.

But that's the problem. Some programmers didn't realize the century was going to end, so they wrote code that uses two-digit years. That is, the number 87 in the year field is seen as equivalent to 1987. And many times, it's also recorded in data files as a two-digit number, not a four-digit one.

The article in Yahoo, distributed by PRNewswire, makes one significant error in discussing the problem, stating that "internally generated dates" are dates generated within programs rather than read on disk. The fact is, when Apple refers to internally generated dates, they are talking about dates generated by the computer and operating system.

The problem is that some programs truncate the internally generated date or use their own date recording schemes, which Apple cannot guarantee at Y2K compliant.

There are Mac programs with Y2K issues. If you think some of your software might have a Y2K bug, Pedagoguery's Year 2000 Software Audit shareware program can test it for you. (Pedagoguery reserves the right to raise the US$38 price - presumably as the Year 2000 approaches.)

* Power Macs are designed to handle dates through A.D. 29,940. Let's hope that by 2019 Apple has an OS capable of working with dates that far in the future.

Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Mac Musings

Recent Content on Low End Mac

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts


Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Low End Living

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum

DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ

Abandonware
   Petition

Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

Open Link