“Thousands of Microsoft customers are running into problems understanding and applying the myriad Microsoft Daylight Saving Time (DST) patches required in order to keep their Windows, Exchange Server and other systems up-to-date when DST takes effect on March 11,” Mary Jo Foley blogs for ZDNet.
Foley reports, “Microsoft’s online DST chat room — which Microsoft is currently keeping open from 6 a.m. PST to 9 p.m. PST to handle customers’ questions — is full of customers who can’t get their DST patches to work. Microsoft support phone lines are jammed with users with DST problems.”
“‘The workstation patches are easy, the stand alone Outlook tool is no big deal. If you’re running Exchange and you try to run the Exchange update tool 930879, good luck. It’s a crap shot,’ said Microsoft customer Paul Marsh,” Foley reports.
Foley reports, “Users with Windows 2000, Exchange 2000 and Exchange 5.5 — products that are no longer in mainstream support and thus are no longer covered under standard Microsoft support agreements are realizing that they need to pay Microsoft $4,000 in order to obtain DST patches for these products.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “JadisOne” for the heads up.]
Thousands of Microsoft customers running into problems is clockwork.
If they haven’t already, Windows-only suffers should be coming to a sad realization. Cancel or Allow?
MacDailyNews Note: On February 15, Apple released free Daylight Saving Time Updates for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and 10.3 Panther which addressed recent changes in the way Daylight Saving Time will be observed in the U.S. and Canada beginning in March 2007 and includes the latest time zone information for the rest of the world.
Apple’s Daylight Saving Time Updates are available via Software Update and also as standalone installers:
• Daylight Saving Time Update (Tiger): http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/daylightsavingtimeupdatetiger.html
• Daylight Saving Time Update (Panther): http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/daylightsavingtimeupdatepanther.html
Daylight Saving Time Fix 1.0 for earlier versions of Mac OS X: http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macos/32030
Related article:
Apple releases Daylight Saving Time Updates (10.4 Tiger and 10.3 Panther) – February 15, 2007
I LUUUUVE it. What a bunch of suckers.
It is about time the Real World understand that Windows is not cut for it. The biggest scam and joke on IT scenario.
Welcome to the social-ly impaired IT experience.
Our system was down this morning….XP Pro
Amazing…., and sad
$4000 for the correct time. Geez.
Funny.
If I’m not mistaken, Apple patched that a week or so ago (without me having to shell out thousands of dollars for a patch).
“Users with Windows 2000, Exchange 2000 and Exchange 5.5 — products that are no longer in mainstream support and thus are no longer covered under standard Microsoft support agreements are realizing that they need to pay Microsoft $4,000 in order to obtain DST patches for these products.”
‘Macintosh – We might not get everything right, but at least we knew the century was going to end.’
-DNA
MW: ‘end’ (really)
I forgot to mention our system was down after the time patch was applied
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Great take, MDN !!!
-Installing M$ patch to fix DST issues: Free*
-Hiring IT professional to install M$ patch to fix DST issues: $150/hour
-*Realizing that M$’s patch is not Free to patch your version of M$’s product: $4,000.00
-Final, and unsettling, realization that you should have swithced to Mac: Priceless
But, Apple didn’t release it for 10.2, 10.1, 9.x, or earlier.
<a >Brian Allen</a>
Point being, Apple only released the patch for 10.3 and 10.4. Not 8, 9, 10.0, 10.1, or 10.2. Now I understand that those OSes are no longer being supported, but how much effort does it take to write a 500k DST table? Oh wait the 10.4 DST table was 9mb.
When are we going to eliminate this Daylight Savings fiction and go to year-round Summer time.
Time to get a Mac. No-brainer.
Exactly, Brian Allen.
We shouldn’t start gloating until Sunday at 3:00 AM.
Any patch does not really matter all you need to do is have your system clock mac or pc look at a online clock server and when you turn on your machine it will match up the time correctly for your time zone. End of Story
When an M$ user asks what time it is, we should respond, “Time to get a Mac!”
Squak
erm… unless I’m mistaken, timeservers specify one single time that the client system adjusts to local time based on the client’s selected time zone.
Therefore on Sunday morning, my unpatched system will obtain the time from the server, and adjust it to EST, rather than EDT, and I’ll be an hour behind.
Squak wrote: “Any patch does not really matter all you need to do is have your system clock mac or pc look at a online clock server and when you turn on your machine it will match up the time correctly for your time zone. End of Story”
Yes, but Windows does not come with the built in ability to sync to a time server. I know 2000 does not and I don’t think XP can either. There are third party add ons that will though, but those only set the time to the GMT. When daylight saving occurs, the time is shifted relative to GMT, so the network time (NTP) won’t solve anything. It will set the time and still lookup what time the computer should be in the current time zone. So, all these Windows users who don’t have the fix will have to manually change the time zone.
As for anyone running OS X prior to 10.3.9, you can get an DST update here:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macos/32030
Dear Windows users…
STICK ‘EM UP!
Love,
Microsoft
I just downloaded the DST patch from Apple and installed it. I had to follow the link provided by MDN because Software Update sure as hell didn’t present it for download.
I don’t understand how I could have missed that particular update or that SU didn’t flag it automatically for me, unless of course it’s because I live in Arizona and we don’t follow DST.
In any case, it’s installed and it didn’t mess with my customized date and time settings in the Menu bar.
I should add this serendipitous moment to my list of To Do’s so that I can say I accomplished something today and reward myself with a little GRAW 2!
The DST fixes were actually a part of 10.4.3 (or a point release somewhere around 1.5 years ago). The latest patch is supplemental, and addresses DST fixes for some other territories, etc that have recently adopted the change. As far as N. America goes, the last patch is not necessary, assuming you are beyond 10.4.3.
Additionally, here is a link to a fix for systems prior to 10.3:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/24267
Why save daylight in the morning only to use more energy at night? Is there less demand on the power grid at night than in the a.m.? I don’t understand the rational for this sudden change at all.
Someone said DST was created to get us to think and act less like independent individuals and more used to being controlled by our government. I used to think that was crazy talk, but now I’m not so sure. What is the point?
The phrase is
CRAP SHOOT
not crap SHOT….unless of course it’s some kind of oblique reference to actually USING Windows and feeling as if you’ve been shot in
the bowels…in which case CRAP SHOT makes a certain kind of sense.
People tend to go by the clock, rather than by the sun.
If clock says it’s midnight, you’re off to bed to be ready for tomorrow’s job.
If it’s DST, you just spent an hour less power on lights.
In theory.
This ignores those further north who end up getting up in the dark and use an hour more power keeping the lights on…
“If you’re running Exchange and you try to run the Exchange update tool 930879, good luck. It’s crap”
Fixed.
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@thetic Ruin
No, no, no. Daylight Savings was instituted, I believe, in the 1930’s as an aid for children who took the bus to school. It provided that earlier hour of daylight in the morning so that children wouldn’t get hit by trucks and cars in the dark of the morning. We go back to Standard Time in the Spring in order to put that extra hour of daylight at the end so farmers can work later into the night. I know, it’s essentially hogwash. But hey, that’s buraucracy using your money at work! Enjoy!
Corrections: Law enacted in 1918. Idea by Ben Franklin. Repealed by FDR during WWII. Reenacted in the ’60s.
MDN: “Thousands of Microsoft customers running into problems is clockwork.”
Yeah, clockwork orange!
Someone said DST was created to get us to think and act less like independent individuals and more used to being controlled by our government.
Sounds like the philosophy public education in America, if you ask me!
Would it be fair to say that Microsoft customers don’t know whether they’re coming or going?
Can I get a patch for OS 9 systems? No? How is that better than Microsoft?
For information about Daylight Saving Time see http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/index.html
For Benjamin Franklin’s essay on the subject see http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/franklin.html
Not to be a pooper, but all our “apple time” settings on our 20 or so macs at work are all screwy and have never been consistent or reliable in years. So it would behoove (is that right???) Apple to maybe check on that. Does anyone else have crappy Apple time settings?
Actually Stab the man is correct — those were the original reasons. Now we don’t need them as much because farming is now run by many fewer people — mostly successful individuals or large agribusinesses. They rely upon automation and use massive machines that are all equipped with headlights, allowing them to farm 24 hours a day. As for kids in the morning, well, that’s still arguable. But I’ve been to school so often in the dark that I don’t think that’s valid anymore, either.
qka – i don’t know, is there a dst patch available for windows ME?
I can testify to the mess that is Microsoft DST patches.
The note that went out yesterday here at work said (and I quote): “one time calendar entries for meetings scheduled between Mar. 11 and Apr. 1 need to be updated by the organizers, as they will NOT be fixed by the patch”
Many calendar items after the new changeover date that were previously “all day” events in Outlook are now showing as running from 1:00 am the day of the event to 1:00 am the next day (meaning they show up in both days).
What a f@#$ing joke. Outlook/Exchange has got to be one of the most brain-dead designs of anything, ever.
Maybe the problem is caused by the fact that most people don’t want to give microsoft the ‘time of day’, in a manner of speaking. lol
These Microsucks patches have completely screwed up our Novell Groupwise Calender app that our hospital uses. Many people’s calenders were erased after the patch was applied! Also, for some reason it shifts all appointments up an hour. WTF? Hello, Microsucks! If you have an appointment at 9 am, it’s at 9 am no matter whether you are on daylight savings time or standard time!
Oh, and our IT dept. still says, “No Macs allowed on the network. They will screw everything up”.
The only thing it would screw up is that guy’s job security.
@dbcoyle
I’ve got six macs at the shop, sync’d with 3 macs at home. Powerpc and Intel mixed in the lot, no time issues here.
Tommy Boy:
“Point being, Apple only released the patch for 10.3 and 10.4. Not 8, 9, 10.0, 10.1, or 10.2.”
All of OS X versions are covered, by Apple and the UNH CIS group:
“Mac OS X Daylight Saving Time Software Fix updates your Mac running Mac OS X 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3…”
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/24267
Anyone still running mission-critical applications on OS 9 and 8 are on their own; but I suspect they’re used to it by now.
“Anyone still running mission-critical applications on OS 9 and 8 are on their own; but I suspect they’re used to it by now.”
If I still used pre-OS X, I’d probably just set the time forward an hour in control panels when I got to work on Monday. I would hope that no life-monitoring systems are running classic. That’s a sad mac.
The province of Saskatchewan in Canada does not practice Daylight Savings Time. Neither does the north-east corner of the province of British Columbia.
Perhaps all Windows users could move there. God knows there is room for more people and the real estate is cheap.
We had the same Exchange issue here at work. They tried patching it several times, and even after it worked, a bunch of Exchange appointments need to be rescheduled. Just how idiotic is Microsoft?
As far as I can recall the patch is not relevant for Apple systems prior to OS X.
OS9 and prior all had manual switches for ST and DST in the date control panel, IT WAS NOT AUTOMATIC, unless you were using a time server, which if memory serves me correct came around 8.1 to 8.5 But even then you still had to manually turn on DST.
Of course I could be completely wrong in all this, as it has been years since I have used a pre X system.
I wonder if pirated copies will get the update. Those so-called Genuine checks might prevent it. As millions of users out there use pirated Copies of XP, 2000 and Vista.
There are two checkboxes: Set Daylight-Saving Time Automatically and Daylight-Saving Time is in effect.
On a related note: the DST patch for my Blackberry (pushed by the IT department over the weekend) took my Blackberry out of commission. Had to wipe the BB clean and reauthorize.
I’m sure your OS 9 patch will come out about as soon as the Windows 95 patch does…which is never. How about getting into the new millenium software wise eh?
What if Windows users just poitned their servers to Apple’s time servers? Would they still need to upgrade to $4000 M$ fix?
And Microsoft will release a new Clockwork Orange Gadget for Vista.
It has a spinning clock and plays “Singin’ In The Rain” with a graphic animation of Ballmer kicking a tied up, screaming office chair.
Once you’ve slurped of the Microsoft teat squirt, of what use is Time, after all…?
In a small sense this is kinda good for Arizona.. more people will move to AZ because we don’t change our clocks ever. 😀
At the tone, please hand over $4000. I’ll send you the address.
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MW – “problems”
Too damn funny, No Squirt For You!
Oh, and No Squirt For You, your post is vaguely reminiscent of the humor of someone who went by the name of Ampar. Ampar suddenly disappeared from the MDN forums back in the fall. Hmmmmmm……
FYI, the Microsoft problem with DST patches actually does affect Mac users; those who use Entourage from Microsoft Office.
See: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst_prodlist
I switched to Mac about two weeks ago and installed Microsoft Office 2004 for compatibility with an employer who uses Word.
This makes me very happy I chose to use Mail rather than Entourage.
Keepin’ it vague, Cubert. Just like a good, twisted Mac freak.
Yes, but Windows does not come with the built in ability to sync to a time server. I know 2000 does not and I don’t think XP can either.
So you mean where it says, “Sync with internet time server” in the Date and Time settings in my Windows XP workstation somehow doesn’t work? That’s news to me.
It seems some people can screw up a wet dream. We applied the DST patches to our Windows Server and Exchange boxes at work with nary a glitch. The client boxes were automatically updated via Windows Update. 14 servers, 390 workstations, all running Windows, not one problem.
Move on – nothing to rant and rave about here except sys admins that don’t know how to read.
Just leave them in the dark—Oh, wait–they’re already there.
But seriously, folks, has MS ever said what the frickin’ $4000 is for? Certainly can’t just be for the patch. That would be rediculous. Just plain rediculous.
Okay, I just answered my own question here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=288
And I must say, IT IS JUST FRICKIN’ RIDICULOUS!
My favorite part was this:
Microsoft explains:
“For products that have entered into the Extended Support phase, Microsoft will provide customers with the opportunity to purchase the DST 20007 hotfix at a reduced price of Four Thousand Dollars (US $4,000). Customers will only be charged a single fee of $4,000 to obtain all hotfixes, for products in Extended Support phase, needed to update their systems for DST 2007.
“For customers who have previously purchased DST 2007 hotfixes for products in Extended Support, Microsoft will reimburse the difference to them under the new pricing category.”
A Microsoft spokesman said that the $4,000 price represents a substantial discount.
“Originally, all the out-of-support patches were $40,000 each. However, we realized this hardship and lowered the price to $4,000 for ALL THE DST PATCHES for our customers best interest. The $4,000 is to just cover costs,” he said.
Any self-respecting Windows apologist would have to admit that Microsoft charging for updating DST is blatantly avaricious and bungling the job indefensible. Daylight savings time or not, the clock is ticking for Microsoft.
The reason I asked about OS 9 is that I have clients still running it on production systems.
We all like to talk about how long Macs last compared to Windoze boxes. These customers are living proof. As long as it still works and gets the job done, they are not going to spend the money to replace those olds Macs. Upgrades cost money, and they are in business to make money. Always remeber that when contemplating upgrades.
One of the keyboards has been used so much, there is a “dent” in the right side of the spacebar from being pressed probably millions of times.
I’m amazed Microsoft hasn’t patented time…
…after all, they copy everything else and try to own it!
It’s 4:30 something and my Mac’s got the right time on it.
First question with MS is getting the patch.
Second question: Does it work?
We’ll find out in a few hours, I’d wager. Or at the latest, Monday morning.
Looks like DST worked without a hitch on my machines.
no problem here, either
no problem here, either
no problem here, either
@ BJH : nicely stated. Journalism is supposed to be objective and unbiased. Not Fannoy coverage.
Fanboy : pardon my thumbs.