There will probably be some outages, but they will be annoyances more than anything. The Millennium Bug, the year 2000 problem - the plight of the Computer Age has as many names attached to it as it does predictions of what will happen at or soon after midnight, Jan. 1, 2000. What could be affected The year 2000 software error may have widespread effects on all types of computers and software. Mike Andrew, Pantex's Year 2000 Program manager, compiled this list of equipment that could be affected on Jan. 1, 2000. Software PC and network applications require upgrade applications.
Some vendors have yet to release compliant versions.
The source of the cyber anxiety has been with us since the onset of computers. In the beginning, memory was expensive, so programmers used an abbreviated system for the passage of time - two digits each for the day, month and year. Programmers in the 1950s and 1960s assumed code would be extinct by the time 2000 rolled around, eliminating the problem. Years went by, and instead of replacing the two-digit system, programmers built upon it. The two-digit system remains at the core of the Common Business Oriented Language, still the digital backbone of industry and commerce.