As the year 2000 quickly approaches computer programs all over the world are scrambling to alter current programs into ones that can handle the century change. While the problem may seem simple, change all two-digit years to four-digit years, it is actually a very complicated and tedious process (Millennium). However, if the problem is not fixed it can cause a dominos effect to other systems worldwide.

Most computer operating systems and applications store data with two digits for the year rather than four. The century is assumed to be the nineteenth. Programs and systems alike rely on this assumption that will no longer be valid when the year rolls over to 2000. This will cause the programs or systems to incorrectly calculate the difference between dates. The reasons behind this problem are all due to the fact that early programmers never imagined there programs to live to the next decade, let alone the next century.

What early programmers did not realize was that the programs they were creating would be the foundation for other updates and new releases. An ideal example of this is DOS and Windows. When Windows 3.1 was released it had t

The most common misconception with the Y2K bug is that it will take effect as soon as the date rolls over to the next century. This is false, sense the formula to calculate a leap year is complicated and not all computer programmers were aware of the formula when creating programs that used it. The rule for a leap year is as follows: A leap year occurs on every year that is evenly divisible by four. Unless: If the year is also divisible by one hundred. Unless: (this is where the most common mistakes occur) If the year is evenly divisible by one hundred and four hundred, it is a leap year. Due to this equation the leap year problem will not become evident until Febuary 29, 2000. However this in not the only date that can cause problems (Millennium). The number 9/9/99 was sometimes used to indicate the end of file or as a date to indicate "never". This means that some files that were never meant to be deleted may disappear come September 9, 1999.

The corporate world has known about this bug for a long time now but they made little to no effort to fix this problem. The reasons behind this are numerous, but the most common reason were lack of time and money, cooperate downsizing, and no demand for a year 2000 compliant product. There is always something more urgent to spend time and money on. It takes an estimated five millions dollars to fix this bug and with little to no increase in revenue to balance it many companies did not make it a priority. Another aspect of the causes is cooperate downsizing. The "Lean and Mean" strategy of corporations has backfired, at least in the case of the millennium bug. In an effort to save money the manpower that could have been devoted to addressing the issue was deliberately ignored. The final blame can be found in the most unlikely place, the consumer. Without consumer awareness of the problem, and without the demand for a product that took the year 2000 into account, it was unlikely!

Water, power, and communications, all use complicated computer systems that could very well be bite by the bug. Water and waste treatment plants are automated systems that rely on computers and flow by control devices that rely on computer chips. Failures in these systems could lead to system shutdowns or groundwater contamination. Power companies use computer systems to control operations and manage the distribution of power. Power outages could result from failures in these systems. Telephone companies use computers to route and connect calls, as well as to connect satellites that have embedded systems onboard (Millennium).

suppliers would make it a priority (Bergeon, 31).

There are well over thirty billion embedded microchips that control electronic devices (Ulrich, 15). These microchips use range from those that roll up and down your car windows, to those that helps a pilot land an airplane. It is crucial that we find those

Some common words found in the essay are:
Amway Corporation, Tea Party, Russia's Y2K, Lean Mean, DOS Windows, Y2K Bug, Revenue Service's, International Airport, Windows Windows, 2000 bug, y2k bug, started ten ago, tedious process, failures systems, billions lines, complicated computer, russian government, digits century, dos windows, millennium businesses,
Approximate Word count = 1937
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)