Tag: Your Questions

A question from the Technical Deep-Dive LiveMeeting today on DST and Time Zones today…

“I believe Victoria, Australia will be extending daylight savings by a week (ending April 6, 2008 instead of end of March ’08) is this covered [in the latest Windows OS update, KB 933360]?”

No, not currently as this has not yet been passed into law. It was reported today that the daylight saving legislation will be introduced this week in Australia and propose that daylight saving be in sync across NSW, the ACT, Victoria and South Australia. More as it develops.

For our webcast, thanks today to Alon, Sophia, Beth, Joel, David, Bob, Gil, Jim and Steve, as well as our LM hostess, Tania.

As mentioned previously, later this year we expect to release the 2008 Cumulative Time Zone Update for Windows that will set the known, correct dates for 2008 (it should include changes for Brazil and any other country that changes the observance of DST entry/exit dates in 2008). Our goal is to move to a regular cadence, releasing cumulative time zone updates for Windows. We are checking on the ability to include Venezuela as well in this update.

For those in government 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.

Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, DST, Time Zones, Australia. 649,768; 896,032; 1,750,000+

A question came in from a customer today on the latest Daylight Saving Time and Time Zone updates…

“Just to clarify, if we updated for this [US and Canadian daylight saving time] change this spring, we should be covered for the fall time change, correct?”

Generally, the answer is yes.  As I noted earlier here, it depends.

See this blog post for a top-level look at the latest DST and TZ updates for Windows.  We also tell our customers (thanks, Joel) that for some companies that don’t have a presence in an affected time zone, no DST updates may be required. However, Microsoft strongly recommends that customers apply the time zone updates for all affected products. There are a couple of reasons for this:

• First, customers may have users who travel to an affected time zone, and as such, their applications could be affected by not having the current time zone updates installed on their client machines.

• Second, applying the current DST updates to all machines and applications keeps their environment up-to-date and consistent with worldwide changes. This could be important when communicating with another end user or company in an affected time zone, or where different IT environments come together and coexist.

Overall, Microsoft strongly recommends DST patch installation on all affected systems, devices and applications to ensure consistency with the world’s current time zone information.  Customers should review the updates available and posted at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst_prodlist for the latest and updated information of Microsoft products affected by daylight saving time, as well as the main DST and TZ page at http://www.microsoft.com/dst2007.

Customers who need the latest updates for the recently-added and revised countries (new time zone rules for Jordan and New Zealand, for example), should get the latest update.  Consumers may update their PCs by visiting Microsoft Update at http://www.update.microsoft.com/. Network managers and sysadmins can get the latest Windows OS update (KB 933360) as an “Update Rollup” via WSUS as noted in this post. 

Technically, there are scenarios where updates and patches are not required, but Microsoft strongly recommends DST patch installation on all affected systems, devices and applications to ensure consistency with the world’s current time zone information.

Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, DST. 641,827; 919,456; 1,472,886

I received a couple of questions today about the just-announced changes to DST in Venezuela…

“I just read that Venezuela which is apparently changing from GMT-4 to GMT-4:30 on September 1. If this is true, how might this affect DST for customers who use Caracas/La Paz as setting for timezone?”

I believe that they are referring to this Reuters news article (above) that states “Venezuela in September will turn clocks back by 30 minutes as it switches time zones to boost the amount of natural light to residents.”

 “Reuters Oddly Enough: And Finally…” Play Video

I found on the ABN site (which I believe is the country’s official news agency) the actual news release on the DST change (and here in Spanish)…

“From next January 1st, 2008, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will have a new time zone that will allow to improve the Venezuelans’ performance on their daily activities.”

First off, this latest DST change for Venezuela isn’t integrated into the latest version of the OS update (available in KB 933360). (BTW, KB 933360 will be released on Windows Update on the 4th Tuesday of August. It is categorized as an Update Roll-up, same as last time with KB 931836, which means that it goes to Automatic Updates, more info available here.)

Second, Microsoft is currently working with representatives in the region to confirm the reports that Venezuela is changing its time zone on Jan. 1, 2008. Later this year we expect to release a cumulative DST and Time Zone Update for Windows that will set the correct dates as understood today for 2008. Customers with Automatic Updates enabled will receive those updates. Changes will include countries that have so far officially announced and approved their observance of DST entry/exit dates in 2008. We’re working with our engineering team on the schedule to include Venezuela in this upcoming update.

We currently maintain customer-ready guidance and information on DST and time zone changes at http://www.microsoft.com/dst2007 – this site is regularly updated with the latest information. Additional information on the most recent DST and time zone updates to the Windows OS can be found on my blog here.

Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, DST. 632,522; 951,689; 1,750,000+