> I've heard bits and pieces about another "Y2038" problem, effectively far more serious than the past Y2K insect. As they exist currently, 32-bit operating systems will crash in February 2038 (or thereabouts) due to the limitations of 32-bit encoding: the time field will RUN OUT of number of seconds elapsed from a fixed starting point (I don't know if that start-point is Jan 1, 1970 or 1980). Both Windows (but not NT?) and UNIX ops have this limitation, as far as I know:
>
> UNIX starting epoch 1970AD: 32-bit *signed* seconds unit field, plus a 32-bit nanoseconds field for finer granularity: i.e. time range from 1902 to 2038 AD
>
> By Y2038 of course, we'll have upgraded to 64-bit systems well before then, which should give a date field range in the billions of years. So you folks can look forward to a truly MAJOR hardware/software upgrade sometime during your lifetimes :-)
>
> My only worry is that the gross complexity of 64-bit coding may prove entirely too stressful for even "good" engineering programmers in the future...
>
> Wolfspirit

first, according to that, 16 bit operating systems such as win3.11 should have already bit it, because if in only 38 years 32 bits were gonna run out of room, 16 bit would have run out of room a long time ago.

second, that's assuming that modern BIOSes are set to 1980 as a start date. Most of them are not. (what would be the point of setting a bios to a date that hasn't occurred for 20 years?)

third, 64 bit architecture is already here. . .consumers see it in the latest game consoles (nintendo 64), and businesses are already getting it on mainframes.

And finally, anyone still using Win98 in 2038 is a hopeless case anyway ;)

Actually, within the next 10 years, the entire architecture of computers will change. . .they will basically be blank chips rather than dedicated vid/sound/etc. cards. As the computer needs more of one function, such as video, it assigns more of its chips to compute video. This modular design will allow for computers as powerful as a Cray II supercomputer that cost less than $1,500. As they are modular, they will also be easy to upgrade, just by plugging a second module into the original one. The old IBM clone that's been around so long is not going to be here much longer.