Potential problem in computers and computer networks at the beginning of the year 2000. Until the 1990s, most computer programs used only the last two digits to designate the year, the first two digits being fixed at 19. As the year 2000 approached, many programs had to be partly rewritten or replaced to prevent interpretation of “00” as 1900 rather than 2000.
It was feared that such a misreading would lead to software and hardware failures in computers used in such important areas as banking, utilities systems, government records, and so on, with the potential for widespread chaos on and following Jan. 1, 2000. Up to $200 billion may have been spent (half in the U.S.) to upgrade computers and application programs to be Y2K-compliant. Despite international alarm, few major failures occurred, partly because these measures were effective and partly because the likely incidence of failure was exaggerated.
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