Daylight Saving Time '07
From Provider Wiki
Section 110 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was signed into law on August 6, 2005, amends the previous standard for observing the beginning of Daylight Saving Time on the first Sunday of April to the second Sunday of March and the ending of Daylight Saving Time on the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday of November. Effect of change will take place one year after enactment of the law or March 2007, whichever is later.
In simple terms this means that beginning in March 2007, Daylight Saving Time will occur on the second Sunday of March (3/11/2007) and end on the first Sunday of November (11/4/2007). Some computers and most electronic devices are not typically equipped to deal with changes in the Daylight Saving Time calendar, and as such appointments and times may become confused. This article aims to outline fixes and suggest the appropriate actions.
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Computer fixes for DST change
Consult Microsoft's document, "Preparing for Daylight Saving Time changes in 2007" for supporting the DST changes on Windows operating systems and other Microsoft products that will be affected by this change.
Recommended sequence for applying DST fixes
Applying DST patches out of sequence can permanently alter existing meetings for a user. Therefore, # it is essential that IT Professionals follow guidelines for patching provided by Microsoft.
For LSPs, Windows Administrators, and Exchange Administrators, Microsoft has recommended application of patches in a specific sequence to minimize impact on your user community. Consult Microsoft's document, "Preparing for Daylight Saving Time changes in 2007" for the sequence with which to apply DST changes on Windows operating systems and other Microsoft products.
Read this article prior to patching in your area.
Windows Vista (all versions)
Windows Vista is compliant with the new Daylight Saving Time and Standard Time rules.
Windows XP Service Pack 2
Download and install the Daylight Saving Time patch from Microsoft.
Windows XP Service Pack 1 & Windows 2000 Professional
Manual adjustment of the system clock was required to accurately reflect Daylight Saving Time on or after March 11, 2007. At that time users were also instructed to uncheck the box next to "Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes" in the time zone section of the Date and Time control panel. While Windows XP SP1 and Windows 2000 are no longer supported at Penn, users with systems running these operating systems will once again need to manually adjust the system clock will on or after November 4, 2007 to accurately reflect Standard Time.
Instructions for manual adjustment of the Windows system clock
- Double-click the time noted in the system tray in the lower-right corner of the screen. This opens the "Time and Date Properties" dialog.
- Select the "Date & Time" tab and change the time noted to reflect the correct local time and click "Apply".
- Select the "Time Zone" tab and make sure that the box for "Automatically adjust clock for Daylight Saving Time" is unchecked.
- Click "OK"
Microsoft offers a utility for editing the registry of computers running older Windows operating systems. Details can be found in the OS Section of Microsoft's document, "Preparing for Daylight Saving Time changes in 2007" .
Please note: Windows XP Service Pack 1 and Windows 2000 Professional are no longer supported at Penn as of July 1, 2007.
Mac OS 10.3.9, and 10.4.6 and above
Run Software Update to upgrade to (at least) OS 10.3.9 (on Panther), and Mac OS 10.4.6 (on Tiger) which includes a fix for the changes to Daylight Saving Time.
Calendaring recommendations and fixes for DST change
Users of calendar software should print their schedule for the weeks between Sunday March 11th and Saturday April, 7th prior to installation of any server-side or client patches. Once all patches have been applied, users should again print their schedule to determine what, if anything has changed.
Outlook, Entourage, and Exchange
Microsoft has also provided a comprehensive set of recommendations to help minimize the effect of the extended DST period on calendaring.
Users should view any appointments that fall into the extended DST date ranges as suspect until they communicate with all meeting invitees to make sure that the item shows up correctly on everyone's calendar both internally and externally. To minimize confusion during the affected date ranges:
- Include the time of the meeting in the request so that invitees can double check the correct meeting time (such as, “brainstorming - 11:00 A.M. Eastern Time”).
- Exercise caution with the appointments and meetings in the extended DST period. When in doubt, verify the correct time with the organizer.
- Prior to applying patches print out your weekly calendars during the extended DST period so that you can keep track of which meetings were scheduled before and after you apply the patches.
Microsoft has created a time zone update tool for Outlook and an update for Entourage to correct for the new DST rules. It is important that system level DST patches be applied before applying this patch to an end user's desktop.
Exchange Administrators should review the update for DST for Exchange information on Microsoft's site.
MS Calendaring FAQs
Microsoft has a comprehensive set of FAQs. We've included some of the most pertinent below:
- Q1. How does the Time Zone Data Update Tool work?
- A1. If the tool detects that there are new rules for a time zone, it can automatically attempt to transition any appointments and meetings that are affected by the change into the new version of the time zone. There are two cases:
- Recurring calendar items These items have the exact time zone definition embedded in them so the tool can do a comparison of time time zone definitions and, if it matches, rewrite the appointment or meeting with the new version of the time zone information.
- Single-instance calendar items These items are more complicated because, previous to Outlook 2007, they contained no time zone information. This makes it is impossible for the tool to determine whether or not the item needs updating. The tool currently assumes that any single-instance calendar item in the extended DST period were generated using the previous time zone rules and offers to update them. Since single-instance calendar items do not contain any time zone information, those items that were targeted at an unaffected time zone but happen to fall within the affected dates of the time zone being transitioned will also be identified by the tool as requiring an update. In these cases, only the appointment or meeting owner can absolutely determine whether a particular appointment should be updated.
- Q2. Should I run the tool if I have Outlook 2007?
- A2. Outlook 2007 has this functionality already embedded in it. You are not required to manually run the tool since Outlook 2007 automatically detects a time zone definition change and automatically prompts you to complete the update process. However, the tool contains updated enhancements that might improve your experience and is the preferred method of updating your calendar. We recommend that you cancel the dialog boxes that appear automatically in Outlook 2007 and follow the instructions to download and run the tool instead.
- Q3. Why doesn't the Time Zone Data Update Tool update all of my affected meetings?
- A3. The tool only updates meetings for which you are the organizer and then automatically sends updates for those meetings to all other attendees. This is required so that all meeting attendees have the correct start and end time of the meeting.
- Q4. What are some situations in which I might want to run the tool multiple times?
- A4. It is a good idea to run the tool multiple times if you continue to create appointments and meetings from computers or devices that do not contain the latest daylight saving time rules. A similar situation occurs if, after running the tool, a recurring appointment or meeting that did not have any occurrences in the extended DST period is modified so that an instance now occurs within the extended DST period. The tool originally would not update the recurrences because no instances were affected by the DST changes. Now that such occurrences exist, the tool needs to be run again so that it can find and update the time zone information appropriately.
Meeting Maker 8.5.3
If you schedule people and resources in different time zones across Arizona, Indiana, and International you will find that meetings will be off by one hour. Individuals who provide support to groups who schedule appointments with people in these areas should consider upgrading to Meeting Maker 8.6. If you do not schedule people or resources across these areas or exclusively in these areas you can continue using Meeting Maker 8.5.3. If you schedule meetings across areas that observe Daylight Saving Time Meeting Maker 8.5.3 will function normally, assuming that the system clock is adjusted for the new DST rules.
Please Note: MeetingMake 8.6 requires hub, server, and client upgrades. Individuals should not upgrade to the 8.6 client prior to consulting with their local MeetingMaker administrator for more information.
DST for handheld computers
Daylight Saving Time information for Handheld computers
JAVA Environment
Java does not use the operating system's timezone information, and must be updated separately. If feasible, update to the most recent version of Java for your platform. All of the latest versions of Java contain the correct timezone information. Visit the Sun web site for more information:
U.S. Daylight Saving Time Changes in 2007
If you can't update Java, see below.
Tied to Specific Java Version
If application compatibility or certification issues prevent you from using the latest version of Java, the safest approach is to apply Sun's tzupdater tool:
Sun Java SE Platform TZupdater Tool
Read the documentation carefully. In a nutshell, the tool simply backs up and replaces the directory containing timezone information. Unzip the utility and run it using the java binary of the installation you want to update (it's possible to have multiple versions of Java installed on a single machine). In a UNIX(like) environment, the following steps are all that are required:
[stop any running processes that use Java] /path/to/version/java -version [confirm you're updating the desired version] /path/to/version/java -jar tzupdater.jar -t [test will output error messages if update is required] /path/to/version/java -jar tzupdater.jar -u /path/to/version/java -jar tzupdater.jar -t [test will output no errors if update was successful] [restart services that use Java]
Remember, if your Java version is frozen, you will need to perform this step whenever you reinstall it. If your platform supplies Java updates, use those instead, as they are likely to contain security updates, as well. However, the tzupdater tool may be used to confirm that your java version contains the correct timezone information, using the -t (or --test) option.
Affected applications with bundled Java:
- ColdFusion MX/JRun (all versions)
NOTE: A search on a Windows XP laptop turned up 11 distinct versions of Java, with 7 of them installed in application bundles. It may be wise to restrict timezone updates to JVMs that support applications where accurate time is important. Also, Sun's tzupdater is aimed at official Sun Java distributions. Applying the update to non-Sun JVMs may not work.
Mac OS X (10.3.9, 10.4.8)
Run Software Update to receive Java for Mac OS X, Release 5. This update adds support for the latest Daylight Saving Time (DST) and time zone information as of January 8, 2007, as well as several other critical enhancements. This release provides improved reliability and compatibility for Java 2 Platform Standard Edition 5.0 and Java 1.4 on Mac OS X 10.3.9, and 10.4.8 and later.
For 10.4.8, this release updates J2SE 5.0 to version 1.5.0_07 and for both OS 10.3.9 and 10.4.8, Java 1.4 to version 1.4.2_12.
See article from Apple Inc.
Planning and Communication
ISC has created templates to assist LSPs and system administrators with planning for DST patching and communicating those plans to your user communities.
