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BYTE is a magazine dealing with microcomputers. Its description of the typical firm's problems is chilling. This appeared in the January issue.
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You may have the delusion that only ancient COBOL applications on primordial mainframes have Y2K problems. Sorry, but you're wrong. Your desktop computer, your applications, your database, your spreadsheets, and your form letters with "date here" codes could all have the same problem. This desktop perspective might inspire a boomlet of upgrades to Y2K-safe versions. Expect to see "Year 2000 Compatible" stickers on boxes. . . .
Hardware problems are, well, harder. Do you have thousands of desktops whose BIOS is toast after 1999? Then you have a problem. You could change all those BIOSes, but this is probably not one of your life goals. You could buy all new machines, but signing such an invoice is the equivalent of signing your own pink slip. Some programs claim to intercept the BIOS with software, an ideal solution if these programs prove to be utterly trustworthy with every application that will ever run on the machine they're installed on. But I wouldn't bet the ranch on it.
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