June 10, 1999

As you review your computer systems, applications, and data for year 2000 (Y2K) compliance, consider an upgrade to Microsoft Office 2000 as part of your strategy. Not only is Office 2000 compliant with Microsoft Y2K test criteria, but Office 2000 also provides tools that can help you assess and update your data.

The challenge with a year 2000 evaluation lies not just in checking each component, but also in understanding how the components interact and exchange data. Users in your organization might use Y2K compliant software to work with old data, for example, or they might use noncompliant tools to bridge two compliant sources.

Although your approach to Y2K compliance depends on your needs, many organizations can proceed as follows:

1. Assess the BIOS and operating systems on your computers, and then check all other applications and files.
2. Prioritize files with potential date-related problems and fix them first.
3. Check data managed by mainframe computers or other large data stores.

Start with the operating system

Office 2000 works with the Microsoft Windows® and Windows NT® operating systems to help you identify and resolve date issues. To take best advantage of Office functionality, however, first make sure that your operating system includes the most recent updates.

The analyzer scans the drives on your computer and carries out the following tasks:

• Identifies installed software products.
• Compares installed software to a list of products stored in a compliance database.
• Produces a report on the overall compliance level of your computer.
• Recommends system upgrades.

Administrators can download the analyzer and the compliance database and run them remotely on client computers. Look for details about using the analyzer in the Readme file, which is included with the download.

Check your applications

Although Office 2000 conforms to Microsoft's Y2K standards, other applications on your computers might not offer the same protection. When you review the applications in use throughout your organization, be sure to evaluate the date-handling capabilities of each product.

The assessment standards used for Microsoft products include the following:

• The product stores and calculates dates consistent with a 4-digit format throughout its operational range.
• If the product allows users to enter a 2-digit shortcut for the year, the product recognizes the year consistent with a 4-digit format
• The product correctly executes leap year calculations.
• The product does not use special values for dates within its operational range for data.
• The product will function through the end of year 2035.

Third-party applications must meet similar standards for date management, and most software companies provide information on the compliance of their products. Check with the producers of other software products to get the latest information.

Check your data

By itself, Office 2000 is compliant with Microsoft's Y2K test criteria, but the strength of the Office suite is that you can use it to view or manage data from many different sources. For example, your clients might use Office for the following tasks:

• Retrieving information from spreadsheets, documents, and other files created with previous versions of Office.
• Importing data from other applications by using Office conversion tools.
• Viewing or managing data stored on mainframe computers or other legacy data sources by using third-party converters.

When you work with information from external sources, be aware that the data might contain date information that does not comply with Y2K standards. Many of the risks are the same as with third-party applications:

• Year dates might be represented as 2 digits.
• Dates might be formatted in a text or numeric format.
• Dates might use a different standard for the current century's cutoff year.

This caveat also applies to data stored on mainframe or other legacy data systems that you gain access to with third-party conversion programs. For data referenced through a conversion program, be sure to check both the compliance of source data and the compliance of the conversion program itself.

If you convert external data to Microsoft Excel 2000 format, you can use the Excel date utilities included in the Office Resource Kit to review your files. These tools can be used to perform the following tasks:

• Scanning workbooks for functions that accept date values.
• Changing 2-digit dates to 4-digit formats.
• Flagging date entries that might calculate differently between older spreadsheet applications and Excel 2000.

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Toolbox   The Office Resource Kit (orktools.exe) includes several Excel 2000 date utilities in the folder Excel Tools. You can find this downloadable file on the Office 2000 Resource Kit Downloads page.

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Check your macros

Another area of risk includes macros, add-ins, and other custom solutions that might not be Y2K compliant. Especially if the tools are older, dates might be represented in 2-digit formats and might be stored as text or numeric types.

If users in your organization use data from older utilities in Office 2000, dates might be interpreted according to the default year range (1930 - 2029) instead of the year intended in the original application.

Related links

For more information about Y2K tools and resources in Office 2000, including an important disclaimer about Microsoft year 2000 readiness, see Understanding Year 2000 Issues in the Office 2000 Resource Kit.

For more information about Excel 2000 date utilities, see Excel File Recovery and Date Tools in the Office 2000 Resource Kit.