Many software and hardware products were designed to store dates using a two-digit year (e.g., 98) instead of a four-digit year (e.g., 1998). This was done to save what was, at the time, valuable memory. As we make the transition to the Year 2000, some applications could misinterpret 00 as 1900, 1980 or some other date.

In addition, 2000 is a leap year. A leap year occurs at the turn of the century every 400 years, and some applications have failed to accommodate this.

Your computer system consists of several components: applications (such as word processing, spreadsheets and databases), an operating system (e.g., Windows® 95), a basic input/output system (BIOS) and a central processing unit (CPU).

When your application requires a date, it is requested from the operating system. The operating system, in turn, requests the date from the BIOS, which requests it from the CPU clock. The CPU returns the date to the BIOS, which may interpret the date before reporting it to the operating system. The operating system may then format the date before reporting it to the application.

If any one of these components fails to properly process the date, the application may store or display the date incorrectly.

Yes, it can. Be sure to set all the operating system default date formats to include a four-digit year; for example, we recommend that you set your Short date style in Windows to include a four-digit year.

There are several things you can do to ease your transition to the year 2000:

• Confirm that the hardware components of your system are Year 2000 compliant by contacting their manufacturers
• Confirm that the applications running on your system are Year 2000 compliant by contacting their manufacturers
• Set the date defaults in your operating system to display date information with a four-digit year
• Enter dates using four digits for the year where possible, to avoid ambiguity
• Be aware of the two-digit year entry assumptions made by your applications, if you decide to enter dates using only two digits for the year.
• Ensure that you have current backup files of all your critical data

3. Interscope Products Compliance Questions

Interscope will test its products for Year 2000 compliance. For all products that are found not to be compliant with Year 2000, Interscope will develop and publish upgrades that will fix the problems in due time. All such upgrades will be free of charge.

Software that is Year 2000 compliant will:

• Accurately process prior to, during and after the year 2000, all date-related data and dates before, on and after January 1, 2000
• Accurately interface with other software & hardware that uses standard date format (4 digits) for representation of the year
• Recognize Year 2000 as a leap year as defined by the Gregorian calendar
• Not incur any adverse performance degradation due to changes added to support Year 2000 compliance
• Provide capability for users to readily identify and use the century in any date fields without special processing

Software that is Not Year 2000 Compliant does not meet Interscope's standard for Year 2000 compliance.

Software that is listed as Not Tested was not tested for Year 2000 compliance and may or may not be Year 2000 compliant. If you are concerned about the Year 2000 status of the application, we recommend assessing it in your particular operating environment.

Interscope's commitment to prepare for the transition to the Year 2000 should not be considered in any way to be a further representation or warranty on Interscope software or a certification or guarantee of Year 2000 readiness. You assume all risk and liability associated with your reliance upon Year 2000 information provided by Interscope.

Please consult the end-user licensing agreement (EULA) that accompanies your Interscope product for information regarding all Interscope representations and/or warranties.