Are mainframe systems the only applications facing the Year 2000 problem?
No! In fact, all computers are faced with this problem, regardless of size. I have a new Pentium Personal Computer. Surely it will handle the Year 2000 without problems. Not true! Most desktop computers (PCs) will appear to be OK if the date is changed while the computer is running. However, when they restart, they will reset the system date to January 4, 1980. Some will record a hardware error, others will happily boot up without a sign that anything is wrong. The only way to know for sure is to check each computer for hardware flaws, software errors, then check each and every data file and report for possible date issues. Is Year 2000 a leap year? Yes, which complicates the challenge. Special handling of leap year dates must often be added. The estimated cost to fix Year 2000 problems in the United States alone exceeds $50 billion – this seems like a huge amount of money for a simple date change. Paul Strassmann recently estimated the worldwide cost to fix the Year 2000 problems at m
