As you know, Daylight Savings Time (DST) has been extended this year (our clocks will advance one hour this weekend). We have been working diligently to anticipate potential negative affects this may have on our managed service customers. In so doing, we have identified several Outlook issues that some of you may experience during the extended daylight saving time period beginning March 9, 2008.

This problem will be most pronounced on any system running Windows 98, Windows 2000 Pro, Windows 2000 Server, Microsoft Small Business Server 2000 and any Microsoft Operating System older than XP. Microsoft Office Versions older than Office XP may not be able to be patched either.

If you have not already done so, go to this site now to download the patches for your operating system and Outlook version.

If you experience any of the following issues, please contact our dispatcher to set up an appointment.

Issue #1 - An all day event now appears on two days instead of just one. Example: A meeting scheduled for Friday, March 23 also appears on Thursday March 22.

Issue #2 - After DST takes effect on March 9, 2008 meeting times are pushed ahead an hour. Example: A recurring meeting on Tuesdays at 1:00pm now appears on everyone's calendar at 2:00pm. This may occur for both recurring and single instance meetings.

Issue #3 - During the extended DST period, you should consider all meeting "Updates" suspect. Example: You may have a meeting scheduled for 10:00am on March 15, after DST you may get an "Update" indicating that the meeting has now been moved to 11:00am on March 15, even though; the meeting really hasn't changed. If you start getting updates like this for your scheduled meetings, you should check with the Meeting Organizer to confirm the correct time.

Issue #4 - You may notice duplicate Outlook items such as Appointments, Meetings, and Calendar notes for both single instance and recurring events.

Preventative Measures When you organize meetings, during the extended DST period, write the correct meeting time in the "Subject" line or the body of the message. Example: Include the following text in the Subject line or the body of the message: "Project planning meeting - 8:30 a.m. PST".

Consider any calendar items during the extended DST period to be suspect. If you are not sure, verify the correct time with the organizer.