Is the Apple Environment Really Safe From The Y2K Bug?

by R. Pritchett, Registered Communications Distribution Designer & LAN Specialist

Y2K Litigation Fever

The business world has some real heartache ahead of it in 1999 due to misapplied intelligence over the years regarding blatant disregard for date-time standards. Fenwick & West, LLP, established a web site focussing on the litigation issues we all could be facing;

All businesses and most individuals will suffer to some extent the consequences of the Millennium bug. At further risk of incurring legal liability to third parties are technology vendors and distributors, the customers of these vendors and distributors, maintenance service providers and companies that sell products that incorporate technology that is not year 2000 compliant. Unless these businesses implement a plan to address the legal and technical issues that arise from the Year 2000 problem, they face potential liability:

Apple Inoculation

Individuals in the IOMUG (1998) and Mac-Wizards (1998) Discussion Groups keep stating that the Macintosh computers are immune to the Y2K bug. The author of this Case Analysis has posted this same information on the "Mac Cognoscenti Web Ring" (Pritchett, 1998). The intent of which was to show the business environment that one way to bypass the trillion dollar plus [ U.S.A. only ] Y2K bug (Yardeni, 1998) is perhaps to replace their WinTel boxes with the more cost effective, less maintenance intensive Macintosh boxes (Ammunition Headquarters, 1998) because they don't suffer from the Y2K bug syndrome.

Apple Advocates Can Still Catch A Cold!

Is this concept of "Immunity" valid? Peter de Jager, Y2K Guru, doesn't seem to think so. He states;

Unlike Intel-based hardware, which typically has a date-rollover problem, the Mac handles the Y2K situation perfectly. The Mac knows that January 1, 2000, comes after December 31, 1999.

But this doesn't mean there's no Year 2000 problem on the Mac. Why? Because the Year 2000 problem is both a hardware and a software problem. Mac software still demonstrates the same types of Year 2000 problems as do PCs, minis, mainframes, and satellites.

He cites Quicken (Quicken, 1998) and Excel (Microsoft, 1998) as applications that have the date roll-over problem in the versions he uses. They have since been corrected. (Jager, 1998)

Jim Lord goes further in his estimation of the Apple Computer environment's "What, Me Worry?" attitude. He says that even if the hardware and Operating System (OS) won't have problems with the century-date turn-over, the danger comes with users not keying in 4-digit year dates. We use 2-digits for the year, which he likens unto hand grenades;

The computer manufacturers, (both PC and Macintosh) as well as the purveyors of application software are not doing a proper job of educating their customers to these dangers.

It's like giving hand grenades to children.

To keep your applications from blowing up, always use four digit dates and become an expert on how dates are formatted and used in personal computers. (Lord, 1998)

Even Patrick Lambert wrote in Business Week Online in "Year 2000 Problem? Not If You're On A Mac";

Just because the OS can see into 29,939, that doesn't necessarily mean every app on your hard drive will handle Y2K with similar aplomb. Apple cautions that some applications use custom date routines instead of operating system services, and they may go awry. In addition, some applications "default" to 20th century dates if only two digits are entered to express the year. To enter the next century, you may either need to type in a four-digit year or adjust the program's preferences to "turn on" 21st century dates. (Lambert, 1998)

So Why Has The Apple Community Become So Smug?

Brian Bechtel wrote in Apple Directions, "The Year 2000: No Big Deal, or Apocalypse Never" that the "Mac OS and Apple Macintosh computers, however, do not have problems with the year 2000." (Bechtel, 1996) It would appear that his notes were amplified and extended in the Tech Info Library (TIL), Apple's knowledgebase under "Mac OS: Year 2000 Frequently Asked Questions". Here we find also that the Apple PC Compatibility cards have a work-around for DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95 and the cards can handle newer applications that do "full year dates". We also learn that the LaserWriter printers and QuickTake Cameras need no modifications. The Fax Option Cards have their own batteries but also have been given "a clean bill of health". (Apple - Support Tech Info Library, 1996-1998)

For people who are still using the Apple II through Apple IIc+, there are 3rd party clocks available. These units don't have system clocks. Apple IIgs units running 8-bit applications need to use ProDOS 8 version 2.0 or switch to System 6.0 software. These devices are pre-Macintosh (prior to 1984). The Mac OS used a 32-bit value to store seconds with a start date of 12 A.M. January 1, 1904 and ending 6:28:15 A.M. February 6, 2040. (Apple, 1997)

In the official bible of the Macintosh, Inside Macintosh, Chapter 4 deals with the Date, Time and Measurement Utilities. This is where the meat for handling four data structures can be found;

The "long date-time record" can be used with other calendaring systems besides Gregorian and covers a time-span of 30,081 B.C. to 29,940 A.D. Changes are made to the system through "Control Panels", which also can read and store values for longitude, latitude, Daylight Savings Time (DST) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as well as locate the computer on a global map. This really is impressive when compared to Date and Time management systems for non-Apple systems!

The showcase website for Apple on this topic can be found with the title, "Apple and the year 2000". It pulls just about everything together in an executive summary format. The only caveat that can be found is; " Software applications correctly using the Toolbox calls supported by the Mac OS will handle the year 2000 correctly." (Apple, 1998)

Apple Y2K "Confidence Tests"

The Apple Y2K webpage also shows how to do a "Shut Down Test" (5 steps), a "Live Test" (4 steps) and a "Check for Leap Year " test (4 steps). These tests preempt one found at the Infowar website that has a 17-step year 2000 compliance test for the Macintosh. For comparison, it has a 25-step test for PCs and also a way to check if the PC CMOS Real Time Clock (RTC) is flawed. ( Infowar, 1996)

Ok, it has been established that the Apple hardware meets the criteria for Y2K compliance. The OS seems to be ok, too.

Now What About Apple 3rd-Party Hardware and Software?

How can those items be checked?

One way is to go to the hardware manufacturer's web sites and find out if they have created a page regarding Y2K Compliance. If the hardware doesn't perform calculations or manipulate dates, they should be ok. The author of this Case Analysis has not found a "Table of Y2K Compliant Hardware" for the Apple community yet. Web pages have been located for some hardware manufacturers which are listed at the end of this document.

Connectix makes both hardware and software products. They state that they will have a list of compliant products posted by January 1, 1999. A partial list has already begun at their web site. (Connectix, 1998)

A one-stop location for Y2K compliant Apple software also does not exist, yet. However, as with the hardware manufacturers, going to their web sites can reveal whether or not they plan on staying in business after January 1, 2000.

Banta, the creator of the Vivace CDWeb Composer, a cross-platform hybrid CD/Web product has loudly announced their product is Y2K compliant. (Banta, 1998)

Claris posted a list of their compliant software for both the Mac OS and Windows operating systems in October, 1997. (Claris, 1997)

DataViz, maker of MacLinkPlus and other software has stated that they will have a page up by December 1, 1998. (DataViz, 1998)

Intuit, maker of Quicken and other products offers free upgrades for existing software and posted the most recent update to their "year 2000 readiness" page September 4, 1998. (Quicken, 1998)

Microsoft, maker of the Office98 suite for the Macintosh platform developed a "Year 2000 Compliance Statement" page that also includes a disclaimer as of April 15, 1998. (Microsoft, 1998)

And What About Shareware?

Stairways Software provides a number of applications but states;

Most of our programs make no use of text dates at all. Some of our programs show dates in log files. As yet we have not found any problem with any of our programs, although we have only tested the more obvious ones. There are some systematic problems with network dates that may affect some of our programs in ways that we cannot avoid.

That said, and before going through some of our programs specifically, I will say that we will not guarantee anyone that our programs will function perfectly on Jan 1, 2000. That is because we do not guarantee anyone that our programs function perfectly on any day at any time, quite the opposite, we disclaims all warranties relating to any of our programs - we've written them as best we can but writing perfect software is a very hard problem." (Stairways, 1998)

Well said!

One way to know what the latest versions are for software used on the Macintosh is to go to "VersionTracker" on the web. A column doesn't exist yet for Y2K compatibility, but it does show whether the updates are for Commercial, Shareware, Freeware or Beta software packages. (VersionTracker, 1998)

So, how can software be put through some kind of "confidence test" for the Apple environment? Does such a package exist? There are plenty of packages for use in the PC world. Isn't there one for the Macintosh? Yes, there is; Pedagoguery Software has indeed made such a software tool available entitled Y2KSA or Y2K Software Audit as shareware. The unregistered version will scan 1000 files at a time. Registration removes that restriction so that large databases can be scanned. Here is a quote from their web site;

Year 2000 Software Audit (Y2KSA) is a program that scans your computer's hard drive(s) for software files. Applications, control panels, extensions, libraries, shared libraries, dynamic libraries, drivers, and other file types that include computer code are all checked for year 2000 readiness. Each time you use Y2KSA, a report is generated that breaks down your inventory of software files based on their readiness for year 2000. Y2KSA bases its decisions on a built-in database, which lists software files along with pertinent information such as: year 2000 readiness, affiliated products, web pages, and email addresses. (Y2KSA, 1998)

There may be other application software out there for auditing systems in the Apple world, but shareware is better than no-ware. "Mac shops" should take the time to download the Y2KSA package and evaluate how well it works on a "time-machine" (one set aside to do the Y2K roll-over exercises). If software packages are found to be lacking by not following the 'Toolbox calls" correctly, then they need to be replaced or updated. This of course, needs to be done prior to January, 2000.

While millions, and possibly trillions of dollars will be spent by enterprises "triaging" their "legacy" systems and replacing what they can't fix, it would behoove the Macintosh environment to check their systems just to be sure they don't fall prey to the Y2K litigation processes (Fenwick, 1998) that are already beginning to surface throughout the world. This will ensure that the Mac shops will be able to stay competitive and not "bleed red ink" as the corporations and enterprises who chose not to use the Apple products are doing today and will continue to do so at least through the year 2000.

References:

Ammunition Headquarters, 1998, http://www.macrules.com/users/ammo/

Apple - Support Tech Info Library, " Mac OS: Year 2000 Frequently Asked Questions", 1996-1998, http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n19843

Apple - Support Tech Info Library, "LaserWriter: No Year 2000 (y2k) Issues", 1998,http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n24359

Apple - Support Tech Info Library, "QuickTake Camera and Year 2000 Compliance", 1998,http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n22198

Apple - Support Tech Info Library, "Fax Option Cards: Year 2000 Support", 1997-1998,http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n21179

Apple Computer, Inc., "The Mac OS and the Year 2000: Approaching The New Millennium", February 1, 1997, http://product.info.apple.com/pr/letters/1997/961210.pr.ltrs.macos2000.html

Apple Computer, Inc., "Apple and the Year 2000", 1998, http://www.apple.com/macros/info/2000.html

Brian Bechtel, Apple Directions, "The Year 2000: No Big Deal, or Apocalypse Never", September 1996, http://devworld.apple.com/mkt/informed/appledirections/sep96/year2000.html

Fenwick & West, LLP, "The Year 2000 Problem; Legal Issues and Suggestions To Address Them", 9, February, 1998, http://www.fenwick.com/pub/2000html/2000frm.html

Macnologist's Y2K Page
http://www.macnologist.com/y2k/

Robert Pritchett, RCDD, "I'll Take What Works, Thank You", August, 1998.
http://www.scm-ae.com/itgroup/itwwtyaad.htm

Internet Only Macintosh User's Group, http://www.iomug.org/

Peter de Jager, "Walking on Thin Ice", Datamation, April 1997, http://www.datamation.com/PlugIn/workbench/yr2000/stories/pdj497.htm

see also http://www.year2000.com

Infowar, "Test and Evaluation Year-2000 Team Report, Appendix D", July 10, 1996, http://www.infowar.com/CIVIL_DE/appendd.htm

Inside Macintosh: Operating System Utilities, Chapter 4 - Date, Time and Measurement Utilities, 6 JULY, 1996, Copyright 1998, Apple Computer, Inc. , http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/mac/OSUtilities/OSUilities-93.html

Patrick Lambert, "Year 2000 Problem? Not If Your On A Mac", March 4, 1998, Business Week OnLine, http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar1998/nf80304a.htm

Jim Lord, "Macintosh Computers and Y2K Misinformation: PC Users and Mac Users Take Heed", May 4, 1998, http://www.y2ktimebomb.com/Tip/Lord/lord9818.htm

Mac-Wizards, http://www.interactivepages.com/macfreak/

Robert Pritchett, "I'll Take What Works, Thank You", July, 1998, http://www.scm-ae.com/itgroup/itwwtyaad.htm

Stairways, "Y2K Issues", Stairways Software Pty Ltd. 1998, http://www.stairways.com/info/y2k.html

Dr. Edward Yardeni, "Year 2000 Recession? Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best." Version 8.0, September 1, 1998, http://www.yardeni.com/y2kbook.html

Y2KSA, "Year 2000 Software Audit", Pedagoguery Software, 1998, http://www.peda.com/y2ksa/Welcome.html

TEXAS II's Apple II Programs and Year 2000 (added 16 February 1999)
http://members.aol.com/A2MG/Y2K.html

Some Apple Environment Y2K Compatible Hardware

Asante' Technologies' Year 2000 Compliance Statement, 1998, Asante' Technologies. Inc., http://www.asante.com/y2k.html

Connectix Year 2000 Compliance Warranty, Copyright 1998, Connectix Corporation, http://www.connectix.com/html/year2000.html

Netopia Year 2000 Compliance Certification, 1998, Netopia, Inc., http://www.netopia.com/support/year2000/

Some Apple Environment Y2K Compatible Software

Claris Products and the Year 2000, October 1997, http://www.claris.com/news/docs/year2000-c.html

Connectix Year 2000 Compliance Warranty, Copyright 1998, Connectix Corporation, http://www.connectix.com/html/year2000.html

Dataviz Compatibility, Dataviz, Inc. 1998, http://www.dataviz.com/company/ y2kcompliancy.html

Microsoft Year 2000 Compliance Statement, April 15, 1998, Microsoft Corporation, http://www.microsoft.com/technet/topics/year2k/y2kcomply/y2kcomply.htm

Quicken, "Intuit is Committed to Year 2000 Readiness", September 4, 1998, Intuit, Inc.http://www.intuit.com/support/year2000.html

VersionTracker Online, Mac Software Updates, 1998, MacCentral, http://www.versiontracker.com

Vivace CDWeb Composer, Banta Integrated Media, 1998, http://www.banta-im.com/html/services.html

Y2K Audit Software, Pedagoguery Software, http://www.peda.com/y2ksa/download.html

Y2K Equipment & Software Compatibility Excel Spreadsheet
Windows format (210KB) click here to download