Microsoft Has Minor Y2K Problems With Internet and E-Mail Software

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Microsoft Has Minor Y2K Problems With Internet and E-Mail Software By Dina Bass

Microsoft Has Y2K Problems With Internet and E-Mail Software

Redmond, Washington, Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. the world's largest software maker, said it is experiencing two year 2000-related problems, affecting software for viewing Web pages and using its free e-mail service.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer software is displaying the date as 3900 on some Web pages when it reads outdated commands scripted in some programs. Microsoft also experienced a ``minor'' glitch in its Hotmail e-mail program that can cause an error in some message dates, spokesman Adam Sohn said.

No major problems were reported worldwide in the beginning of the Year 2000, though doomsayers had predicted everything from electrical blackouts to missing bank accounts to faulty gasoline pumps. Microsoft Chief Executive Bill Gates has said he expects users of older computers to experience minor problems in the weeks ahead. ``It's been a fairly quiet transition,'' Sohn said. The company spent $50 million to $100 million on year 2000 preparation.

The shares of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft fell 3/16 to 116 9/16 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock climbed 68 percent in 1999.

The ``Get Year'' command on Internet Explorer only returns a two-digit date so Web pages that use that command will display the wrong date, said Don Jones, Microsoft's director of Year 2000 Readiness.

Internet Explorer

The Internet Explorer problem doesn't occur on America Online Inc.'s rival Netscape browser software for viewing Web pages because it included a fix in its software that turns the two-digit date into one beginning with 2000, said Jones. Microsoft chose not to update its software and instead asked Web site operators and programmers to make sure they use a newer command that works with 4-digit dates.

Jones said companies who wish to fix the problem must go through the programming code that was used to create their Web sites and change all the old commands to the newer ``Get Full Year'' command.

Hotmail, Microsoft's free Web-based e-mail provider, may list dates of messages sent during or before October with the year 2099, Sohn said. The problem has only been found in one mailbox and affects only a small number of messages that meet a number of criteria, he said.

The glitch didn't cause the loss of any messages or prevent the use of the estimated 50 million Hotmail accounts.

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 04, 2000

Answers

Microsoft's Internet Explorer software is displaying the date as 3900 on some Web pages when it reads outdated commands scripted in some programs.

Thanks for posting this, Hokie!

I've been experiencing just this problem with IE5 and I thought it was being caused by an errant javascript program on one of my web pages but I only experienced it with IE5 and not with Netscape...

Typical Microshit software. :-/

-- Jim Morris (prism@bevcomm.net), January 04, 2000.


Hokie; We did get the report on the first working day. That is a GOOD thing. Still no mention of the wide spread NT mail server failures, why not? MANY sysadmins noticed this and had it repaired by ten am on the first. MS already knows that it was there but will NEVER admit that the only fix was to delete all those mail messages sent between midnight and whatever time the sysops figured out the problem that morning... Why not? Because sometimes people send important mail and are counting on delivery.

Market down again today. Probably still profit taking as is common this time of year.

-- Michael Erskine (Osiris@urbanna.net), January 04, 2000.


Yesterday my hotmail inbox was interesting. None of the messages were in order as before. They were just helter-skelter with no order to them.

-- jetod (jetod@hotmail.com), January 04, 2000.

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