Keep in mind that the Daylight Saving Time ‘fall back’ is later this year by one week, in the US and Canada on November 4th, rather than on the last Sunday in October. For more on this, check out the Microsoft DST 2007 Support site. Geekzone NZ notes that the government in New Zealand “announced in April that the period of daylight saving in the country was being extended to 27 weeks.”
“From this year, daylight saving will start on the last Sunday in September and end on the first Sunday in April the following year. Accordingly, the next period of daylight saving will start on Sunday 30 September 2007 (when 2:00am becomes 3:00am) and end on Sunday 6 April 2008 (when 3:00am becomes 2:00am).”
“Deputy Secretary Keith Manch says IT providers will want to test their systems with the required changes before daylight saving commences on 30 September.”
That’s a small window of opportunity to update products, systems and services, ‘though not as short of a window as Western Australia provided late last year (about a two week warning).
A personal note for those in government: IMHO, if you are considering changing the observance of DST or Summer Time in your country, figure on at least a year (perhaps even two) to ensure that not only vendors but those IT professionals impacted by the changes have enough time to make the appropriate decisions.
Microsoft New Zealand has a website up to provide information and links to updates on the upcoming changes to DST in New Zealand at http://www.microsoft.co.nz/timezone. “IT managers and users are invited to check this website regularly.”
And if you thought that Daylight Saving Time and parsing the various time zones around the world was hard, here’s an interesting note from Cathi on the time is observed in East Africa…
“In Swahili time, the day begins with sunrise so one o’clock in the morning is actually OUR 7 a.m. This difference in time system makes it very hard for the children to understand the English system, a system used throughout the world including in business.”