More than 300 technical staffers, many with their families, gathered around computers at Microsoft Corp.'s headquarters, marking the new millennium by waiting for something to go wrong.
They had nothing to do.
It also was quiet to the south, in Silicon Valley, where technology companies said initial reports indicated the Year 2000 was dawning without a glitch.
"We're getting regular reports from our people around the world as the Year 2000 rolls across the globe, and the word we're hearing right now is 'quiet' — and that feels great," said Hewlett-Packard Co. spokeswoman Barbara Kommer.
She warned, however, "it's when businesses start getting back to business that will be the real test of how well the industry prepared."
Other "all quiet" reports came from around the world, with country after country reporting as the clock struck midnight that power stations continued to generate electricity, the lights stayed on and most automated teller machines spewed cash.
The technicians were focused on the so-called "millennium bug," which stems from fears that older computers programmed to read just the last two digits of a year will read 00 as 1900 rather than 2000. That can cause data to be lost or software to fail.
The absence of Year 2000 computer problems in Asia and, later, in Europe and the east coast of North America, gave company officials hope for a quiet transition.
"You can count the number of Y2K-related calls we've received around the world on one hand," said Don Jones, head of Y2K troubleshooting for software giant Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash.
Still, the company will maintain its 300-member team well past midnight local time. The technicians and their families will be treated to a buffet and a champagne toast at midnight.
Microsoft has up to 6,000 people around the world in its call centers to answer users' questions, and will maintain the same staffing level until late Monday.
The volume of calls, however, has been amazingly low, Jones said.
Internet equipment maker Cisco Systems, Dell Computer and other major technology firms canceled many employees' vacations, set up command centers to address potential crises — and crossed their fingers.
Cisco Systems spokesman John Earnhardt said that while thousands of staffers in 57 "war rooms" around the world were taking Y2K seriously, tensions eased as it became apparent there weren't going to be massive or widespread problems.
"Luckily we've been bored to tears," Earnhardt said.
He said that in one operations center in San Jose, Calif., staffers began making balloon hats, helping themselves to the ice cream carts and enjoying neck rubs from massage therapists.
At Hewlett-Packard, chief executive Carly Fiorina went home early in the afternoon after hearing positive news from the company's 50 command centers.
Spokesman Brad Whitworth said that technicians turned to board games and videos to fill their afternoon hours. He said that employees scheduled for later shifts were told to stay home — but remain on call.
"Obviously we're feeling better about this whole Y2K," said Bill Calder, spokesman for computer chipmaker Intel Corp. in Santa Clara, Calif. He added that the company will maintain heightened monitoring for a few days.
At Honeywell in Minneapolis, spokeswoman Melissa Young said all was quiet.
"Everything is going smoothly, and there have been no serious problems or incidents," she said.
Other companies were tightening security against malicious attacks and problems that could result if computers misread the date.
Internet auction house eBay told the online community it would shut down from 3:30 p.m. PST to 6 p.m. PST Friday, then again from 11 p.m. Friday through 3 a.m. Saturday as a precaution against Y2K computer glitches.
Other firms said they were shutting down e-mail systems or limiting incoming messages amid fears that hackers could try to disrupt their systems with computer viruses.