First there is the Y2K thing. Well, not now but of course, when the year turns over that magik number 2000. Kind of like an evil slots machine. So, those folks in the midst of panic are giving advice. As usual, the media, suffering under a similar lack of knowledge isn't helping.
Many software programs are already fixed - including some of the bank programs.
For example the place I last worked, we made our complex inventory software 2K compliant in less than an hour. Many software programs written in modern languages can be easily set as the languages include a flag which you can set at the beginning of the program. You see, the computer stores the date in a form called a Julian number. The Julian date is how many years have passed since a date distant in the past so the computer KNOWs what the real date is - it's just that some of the software translators don't know. This isn't as big a deal as you think.