Article 156377 of comp.os.vms:



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	    New OpenVMS Year 2000 Position Statement


	    The Year 2000 Problem

	    The Year 2000 Problem is the result of the common
	    practice of using two digits instead of four to
	    represent years in dates and of having multiple
	    time formats that are internal to the operating
	    system. When this practice is extended to computer
	    hardware and software, it causes incorrect results in
	    arithmetic operations, comparisons, and data sorting
	    when users work with years beyond 1999.


	    OpenVMS and the Year 2000

	    All versions of VMS and OpenVMS operating systems
	    use multiple internal representations of years.
	    (These representations interface through external
	    ASCII and binary year fields.) When writing your
	    applications, if you have consistently used the
	    complete four-digit year field representation that
	    VMS and OpenVMS produces or accepts as input, you
	    will not be affected by the transition to the year
	    2000. The four-digit year field provides a Year 2000-
	    safe core on which to layer your applications.

	    At the hardware level, no changes are needed, because
	    all of Digital's Alpha and VAX system platforms use
	    representational formats that are totally unaffected
	    by the transition to the year 2000.

	    Digital expects that most Year 2000-related problems
	    will probably occur in customers' applications;
	    therefore, starting a complete evaluation of
	    applications as soon as possible is very important.
	    OpenVMS provides the advantage of allowing you to
	    start testing NOW.


	    You Can Test TODAY for Year 2000 with OpenVMS

	    No systematic and automatic testing method can ensure
	    that all customer applications will continue to work
	    across the year 2000 boundary. However, OpenVMS is
	    one of the few operating systems that allows you to
	    set the system clocks to times in the future, which
	    will enable you to test your software for possible
	    Year 2000 problems.

	    To ensure integrity of your data during these test
	    sessions, Digital recommends that you perform the
	    evaluation in a completely restorable, non-production
	    environment.


	    The OpenVMS Software Environment

	    In the OpenVMS software environment, many interfaces
	    and layered software components are layered on the
	    Year 2000-safe core described above. To make sure
	    that these interfaces and layers of software are
	    safe for the transition to the year 2000, Digital
	    is conducting an investigation of its software
	    environment. The results of this investigation
	    will indicate if any modifications to the software
	    environment will be required. These modifications
	    will be released with the version of OpenVMS that
	    is available in calendar year 1997. (At the current
	    stage of the investigation, only minor modifications
	    are expected.)

	    Digital's layered software products and partners'
	    products are also being investigated for Year 2000-
	    related problems. A list of products and releases
	    that are Year 2000-compliant is planned to be
	    available by the end of 1996.


	    OpenVMS Is Ready Now for the Future

	    Customers can continue to depend on OpenVMS with the
	    knowledge that this operating system has been proven
	    in the most demanding environments. OpenVMS will
	    continue to provide enterprise system dependability,
	    24x365 availability, disaster tolerance, and
	    scalability as well as the best cluster technology
	    in the industry for many years to come.


  -------------------------- pure personal opinion ---------------------------
   Stephen 'Hoff' Hoffman   OpenVMS Engineering   hoffman@xdelta.enet.dec.com
   <Headers deliberately munged to avoid automated junkmail -- the spam-bots.>
    OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): http://www.openvms.digital.com