After years of preparation and billions of dollars in fixes, most world governments and private companies look like they're going to be Y2K compliant. That's the good news. The bad news is that most home users aren't able to pay consultants and programmers to make sure their personal computers are Y2K-friendly. It wouldn't make for a very happy new year if your lights and cable TV are working, but your computer won't boot.

- Patches and utlities -

The latest lap in the chip speed sweepstakes shows the race is still tight. The first hands-on evaluation of systems based on 750-MHz chips, now available from both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, finds them to be essentially identical in performance.

- Speedy machines -

Colombia's main leftist rebel band uses computers for everything from Internet-based public relations to maintaining lists of kidnap victims to be snatched at roadblocks.

- Say you want a Y2K ready revolution -

The release of Windows 2000 next year will undoubtedly render a number of stand-alone utilities obsolete. Nevertheless, there are others you'll want to keep, and the most popular ones are featured in this week's list. Two of them provide quick access to your programs, one creates partitions on your hard drive, another supplies information about your system, and still another announces what time it is. All the files are free to download and evaluate, so give them a try. You may still be using them when Windows 2010 hits the shelves!

- Handy tools -

Chat on Thursday, December 23, with Richard Sullivan, CEO of Applied Digital Solutions, which will market a miniature digital monitoring device that can be implanted under human skin. The chat starts at 1 p.m.

- Talk back -

Compliance for Christmas

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