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Coming December 11: The Windows Cumulative DST & TZ Update for 2008

Coming December 11th to an Internet connection near you: the 2008 Cumulative Daylight Saving Time and Time Zone update for Windows OSes.  And yes, Venezuela is part of this update.  This update is now available for IT Pros and SysAdmins as a download from Microsoft KB Article 942763.


Generally, end users do not have to install these updates manually, as updates like this one will be installed automagically via Windows Update beginning on December 11, 2007 rather than download and install these from the Microsoft Download Centre (as noted in the KB article link above).  For end users who have their PCs managed by a central administrator, please contact your IT administrator for information on how PCs on your network will be updated. 


More about Venezuela. Typically, the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has observed South America Western Standard Time. According to current official reports, the start date for new time zone is yet to be determined, but reported to occur on December 9th, 2007.


When customers move their Windows clients to the new time zone, clocks will move backwards 30 minutes, from UTC -4:00 to UTC -4:30. This change begins at 2:59:59 PM local time on the start date. Clocks should be moved back to 2:30:00 PM rather than advancing to 3:00:00 AM. For more information, please see Microsoft KB article 942763 for the Windows Cumulative Update.


For a Web log of the most common questions and answers about moving appointments from one time zone to another for Venezuela, visit the following Web site:


http://blogs.technet.com/dst2007/archive/2007/10/04/time-zone-move-and-the-outlook-time-zone-data-update-tool.aspx


Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, DST.

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Venezuela’s time zone shifts at 3:00AM on December 9, news reports say

Update on Venezuela: as noted previously in my post News: Venezuela to change to a new time zone on December 9, the change to the Venezuelan time zone takes effect officially at 3:00AM local time on Dec 9th.


As Jorge Lopez reminded me, the news articles we have seen thus far state that the change occurs at 3am on 9 December (domingo 9 de diciembre a las 3 de la mañana’).  The Live translator did not translate 3 de la mañana which means 3 in the morning.


You think that I would know ‘de la mañana’ instinctively by now. 😉


The difference will have little real impact to our users, given how our hotfix update works, and how it will likely be deployed.  Nonetheless, we would like to point this out.

As you may recall, Venezuela will move to a newly created time zone, shifting by 30 minutes to -4:30h UTC on December 9th, as noted here for a translated page).  We should see this approved/confirmed later this week as the changes is subject to “constitutional reform.” 

More info coming soon on the DST & TZ hottopics page at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst_hottopics.


Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, DST. 4,020,000; 10,600,000; 649,000+

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December Cumulative 2008 Daylight Saving Time and Time Zone Update for Windows Released

Thanks to a note from the hard working folks in Windows Sustained Engineering (!), I’m happy to announce that the 2008 Cumulative Time Zone Update for Windows has just been released to the Microsoft Download Center for currently supported Windows Operating Systems (including Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista). This update can be found in KB article 942763 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942763)

As noted previously, the 2008 Cumulative Time Zone Update for Windows is an annual update that sets the known, correct dates for 2008 in the Windows OS (including 2008 changes for Australia, Brazil and other countries we know that have changed their observance of DST entry/exit dates or time zones in 2008). This early drop of the update allows IT professionals and sysadmins to test the installation and deployment of the cumulative update roll-ups prior to broad distribution. 

The update packages will be distributed to computers via Windows Update in early December (the second Tuesday, Dec 11).

As I was typing, I was asked: “Does this mean I have to install the updates manually?” 


No.  Generally, consumers should wait for the updates to be installed via Windows Update rather than download and install these from the DLC.  And for end users who have their PCs managed by a central administrator, your IT folks will handle the distribution and updating of your PCs over the network.  (When in doubt, ask. 😉


Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, DST. 4,020,000; 10,600,000; 649,000+

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News: Venezuela to change to a new time zone on December 9

We have reports (thanks, Jose!) that Venezuela will move to a newly created time zone, shifting by 30 minutes to -4:30h UTC on December 9th. For those of you keeping score, that’s at least the seventh change to the start date.

According to news reports on the official Venezuelan government news site, (see http://www.windowslivetranslator.com/BV.aspx?MKT=en-US&lp=es_en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abn.info.ve%2Fgo_news5.php%3Farticulo%3D111435%26lee%3D7 for an English translation) Venezuela will change to a new time zone on December 9th, subject to “constitutional reform.” 

As previously noted, the updated Venezuelan time zone is included in the hotfix available via KB 938977 (see below).  We expect that customers should move their Windows clients to the new time zone after this new time zone goes into effect: at that time, clocks should be moved back 30 minutes, from UTC -4:00 to UTC -4:30. We expect that this change will begin at 11:59:59 PM local time on the start date, when non-system clocks should be moved back to 11:30:00 PM rather than advancing to 12:00:00 AM (midnight).  

[Correction (112907): the change will occur at 3:00AM on Dec 9th. More info coming soon on the DST & TZ hottopics page at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst_hottopics.]

Further, we expect that December 9 will be the official change date for the time zone and will follow up with more detailed information as it is available, around Dec 2.

What to do now: 


KB Article 938977 provides more information on how customers may request the hotfix update for the Windows operating system (available now) to allow customers and partners to test and implement the new time zone for Caracas, Venezuela, prior to an official move to the new time zone.

Updating Calendar items following the change with the Outlook TZ-DUT:  As previously noted, documentation is available around how to remediate regions such Venezuela using the Outlook Time Zone Data Update Tool (affectionately known as the “TZ-DUT” or “Outlook Tool”) for the upcoming change in the blog post on time zone moves at http://blogs.technet.com/dst2007/archive/2007/10/04/time-zone-move-and-the-outlook-time-zone-data-update-tool.aspx.  

In Venezuela, after moving a Windows client to the new time zone, Outlook calendars will display items in the “wrong” place after the time zone move.  As such, “rebasing” of the items will be required to allow them to display at the proper time.  Here are detailed instructions for using the Outlook TZ-DUT to move your calendar items to the new time zone.  These instructions will be included in a future knowledge base article (currently being written). 

Please see the top-level customer guidance/ information provided on the DST & TZ hottopics page at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst_hottopics on potential challenges customers may have during this change.  

News articles:  


http://www.el-nacional.com/www/site/detalle_noticia.php?q=nodo/3284 http://buscador.eluniversal.com/2007/11/23/ccs_art_estudian-cambiar-hus_609836.shtml http://www.minci.gov.ve/noticias_-_prensa/28/16725/venezuela_podria_tener.html http://www.mct.gob.ve/publico/noticias/det_noticias.php?co=1249 http://www.abn.info.ve/go_news5.php?articulo=111435&lee=7


Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, DST. 4,020,000; 10,600,000; 649,000+

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Don’t Forget” Daylight Saving Time change “fall back” for N America tonite at 1:59:59AM

I often tell my taller son that “time is a precious thing. Never waste it.”  This usually happens when he comments loudly on the need to complete his homework. 😉

Well, tonite (or this morning, depending how you look at it) you’ll get another hour to club and dance, late night sushi at Hidekazu Tojo’s, watching SNL live, play Halo 3 on Xbox Live or, like many of us old, married guys on Facebook, sleep.

Visit http://www.microsoft.com/time for more details.

If you read this blog you are already aware that Daylight Saving Time (DST) in most of North America ends a week later this year, on November 4, 2007 at 2:00:00AM.  If you’re like me, you’ll be up at 1:59AM to ensure that the West coast doesn’t melt down (which we will get a good leading indicator at 11PM Pacific when the East Coast “falls”).  We expect fewer issues than we had in the Spring (see “DST Support Central in Redmond, Day 5 – closing down“) given the improved awareness and lead time to deploy updates.

If you have a PC, ensure that you have applied the latest updates (more info at the link above). 


For Microsoft Smartphone or Pocket PC owners running Windows Mobile 5.0 or earlier versions, you should have already received the required update from your carrier or installed them earlier this Spring from our Windows Mobile site at  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/daylightsaving/default.mspx
If you have not done so already, we encouraged you to install this update to keep your email and calendar appointments accurate with the time change. This patch for Windows Mobile has already been applied by a majority of users earlier this year, and carriers have provided a fix for devices sold since Spring.  If you have had a hard reset (“Clear Storage”) on your device after applying the update earlier this year, may need to reinstall.


Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, DST. 4,020,000; 10,600,000; 649,000+