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What was Y2K?

Updated: 8/22/2023
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14y ago

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It wasn't a virus. For a really long time computer memory cost big money, so you used it very carefully. One way they saved memory was by using the last two digits of the year--"89" instead of "1989." On big computers, to save disk space they'll often dump data older than they need to use right now onto tape, then erase it. Mainframes are usually set up to do this. If dates had stayed two digits long, when the year became 2000 the computer would think new data was really, really old and just get rid of it for you instantly. Not good. To fix the problem, someone had to go into all those programs, change the date field length to four characters, then re-edit all the current data to read "1999" instead of "99." You've probably seen the "Macs have always been Y2K compliant" boast. It's true, and the reason it is, is Macs have always had a lot of memory. They could afford to use four-digit years because they always had the space to do it.

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14y ago
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14y ago

"Y2K" refers to the "Year 2000 (2 k)". Since this is posted in computer history, I'll assume you're referring to it's effect on computers, or more specifically the "Y2K bug". This was a bug out of the fact that before 2000, computers assumed that years started with 19 e.g. 1985 or 1999. When 2000 came around, people just assumed that computers would glitch out with errors as "2000" doesn't fit into the 19__ form. This was attributed to anything that was relied on computers (car ignition systems, coffee makers, etc.). January 1st came and went, there were minor problems here and there, but it didn't cause any widespread detestation.

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15y ago

2000

this year is 2k8, next year 2k9....

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13y ago

i dont know and dont care

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