The New Daylight Savings Time & Your Computer

I am already sleep deprived. I don't like the idea of having to wake up one hour earlier than I already do. It is not a pretty sight.

Congress in 2005 decided that as part of an energy bill to extend Daylight Savings Time (DST) ahead by four weeks. That is one hour less sleep per working day. five hours per work week. 25 frigging hours less sleep for the month!

See, I'm cranky already. Where was I? Your computer. Most of us in the program have a personal computer. On the PC side of the fence if you have a brand new computer with Windows Vista you are fine, no worries about DST. You have bigger headaches about the operating system but not this one.

Windows XP uses need to download a patch from Microsoft (and only Microsoft) to get your system to keep the correct time. The direct link for the update is http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst Firefox users - I know it is a pain but use Microsoft IE to update to make sure the patch is applied correctly.

Windows ME, 98, 95 users. I regret to inform you that Microsoft has stated that they will not provide any patches or support for your operating system. I know you've had the beloved rust bucket for a while but this is the reality of working with an obsolete operating system.

You can manually turn off the automatic daylight savings time and then adjust to your local time. This will work for the operating system but other software that is dependent on the correct time might get a little fussy.

I will keep an look out for suggestions but it isn't looking good. I know money is an issue but one of the suggestions I do have is to switch to one of the Linux distributions. It is a different operating system but it will work with older computers. Some of the easier ones to work with are Xandros, Ubuntu , or Linspire

Mac Users - Feeling smug huh? Don't. You might be in the same boat. If you have OS 10.4 .5 or later you are ok for the moment. Running 9.3 or earlier? This is the link to the info on the Apple site http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305056

If you are a Palm PDA user you might want to visit http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/dst.html

If you have a calendar or time tracking program you might want to go to the software web site to see if there is a patch for the program. More important, make sure you update your anti-virus and anti-spyware programs before March 11.