Your computer: leaping over Feb. 29?

Just when you thought it was safe for your computer to venture into the Year 2000, experts are reminding computer users everywhere of another potential problem: this is a leap year, which could throw off your computer¹s date calculations.

Most organizations and software vendors tested their systems and products for this problem at the same time they were repairing the Year 2000's notation problem of using only two digits that got most of the headlines. But some older calendar and scheduling programs, as well as other routines (commercial or homemade) that involve date calculations at your own desktop, may not correctly deal with the leap-year date of Feb. 29.

The University's Y2K team recommends that on Feb. 29 and March 1 you check any device that does date calculations to make sure it handled the leap year correctly. Then we can go back to worrying about sunspots (see http://www.itc.virginia.edu/virginia.edu/fall99/sunspots).

For those who want to delve into the complex rules about leap years, see the federal government web site at http://www.nist.gov/y2k/documents. htm#leapyear