- SAINTES, France (AFP) - Microsoft's Windows 98 operating system and
its version 4.5 of the Works application program have failed Year 2000
compliance tests, a French government minister revealed Thursday.
-
- Tests by the national Directorate for
Competition and Prevention of Fraud (DGCCRF) had shown the systems would
be unable to recognize the year 2000, said Marylise Lebranchu, minister
for small and medium businesses.
-
- "The DGCCRF carried out tests in
mid-January on products which might not work after 2000 and we have proof
that Works 4.5 and Windows 98 will not work," said the minister.
-
- "It is extraordinary that a company
which is supposedly at the cutting edge of technology has sold products
which will not work after 2000," she added.
-
- Lebranch said she envisioned taking measures
"as of next week" to assess Microsoft's "possible liability."
-
- Microsoft France said a week ago that
some of its programs would experience minor technical hitches after Dec.
31, 1999, because of code which only recognizes date changes in the last
two figures.
-
- The company promised to complete tests
for the so-called Millennium Bug on all its products within a month.
-
- Microsoft France's Marketing chief, Pascal
Brier, said only seven percent of its products would not work after 2000,
while 33 percent would experience minor problems.
-
- Among the year 2000-incompatible programs
were Access 2.0 and earlier editions, Works 4.5, Site Server 2.0, Internet
Explorer 3.0 and earlier editions, and Word 5 for DOS and earlier editions.
-
- ____________
-
-
- From MacCentral
French business minister: Win '98 fails Y2K compliance Staff Report <email@maccentral.com
2-26-99
-
-
- Apple, fire up the HAL commercial! Microsoft's
Windows 98 operating system and its version 4.5 of the Works application
program have failed Year 2000 compliance tests, a French government minister
revealed yesterday.
-
- A Nando Media <http://www.techserver.com/story/0,1643,22223-36252-265429-0,00.html article says tests by the national Directorate
for Competition and Prevention of Fraud (DGCCRF) had shown the systems
would be unable to recognize the year 2000, said Marylise Lebranchu, minister
for small and medium businesses.
-
- Nando Media quotes Lebranchu as saying,
"The DGCCRF carried out tests in mid-January on products which might
not work after 2000 and we have proof that Works 4.5 and Windows 98 will
not work. It is extraordinary that a company which is supposedly at the
cutting edge of technology has sold products which will not work after
2000."
-
- The story adds that Lebranch envisions
taking measures "as of next week" to assess Microsoft's "possible
liability."
-
- "Microsoft France said a week ago
that some of its programs would experience minor technical hitches after
Dec. 31, 1999, because of code which only recognizes date changes in the
last two figures," reports Nando Media. "The company promised
to complete tests for the so-called Millennium Bug on all its products
within a month."
-
- Meanwhile, Pascal Brier, Microsoft France's
Marketing chief, said only 7% of its products would not work after 2000,
while 33% would experience minor problems. Among the year 2000-incompatible
programs were Access 2.0 and earlier editions, Works 4.5, Site Server 2.0,
Internet Explorer 3.0 and earlier editions and Word 5 for DOS and earlier
editions.
-
- Microsoft has a Y2K Web site at <http://www.microsoft.com/technet/year2k/http://www.microsoft.com/technet/year2
k/ designed to address the Millennium
Bug issues.
|
