At long last, summer is drawing to a close in New York City and environs. Every year around this time, we look back at what's been a great summer. All those days of endless parking spaces at the train station as everyone else was on vacation. All that fresh air and extra room as subway ridership declined by 10 percent.       Which brings us to our next paragraph. September brings something even more important than the broken windshields that signify the Wyandanch commuter parking lot's reopening as an auto theft shopping center. September means that Visual Studio 6.0 is finally a shipping product. It's on the street, in developers' hands, and under scrutiny. We've been deluged with orders over the past month—strange, because MIND doesn't sell software. Please stop calling us.       Based on the early response to Visual Studio 6.0, we're bringing you the best coverage available, both now and in the months to come. This month, we have a story about the package itself. We're also rolling out a number of new columns through the end of the year. We've assembled some of the most knowledgeable authors in the business to bring you product-specific news, problem solving, and technology updates. Two of these columns, Beyond the Browser and Working Knowledge, can be found in this issue.       Beyond the Browser will cover some of the intricacies of Visual InterDev and server-side programming. Ken Spencer will be writing it—you probably know his name from past TechEds, PDCs, Microsoft DevDays, or from his many magazine articles and books.       Working Knowledge will distill some of the intricacies of the programming world into something more understandable. Microsoft Press author and frequent MIND contributor Aaron Skonnard will be in charge of this column. This month, Aaron delves into the DHTML object model.       In the issues to come, we'll also be introducing a new column on Visual Basic programming for the Internet, as well as a regular Visual J++ spot. Visual Studio 6.0 shows that there's more ways than ever to approach the increasingly complex capabilities of the Web. We think you'll like our renewed focus on the tools you already use to take advantage of the new Web. Let us know what you think—with email to mind-mag@microsoft.com, or on our fabulous new newsgroup, news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.magazines.mind.       Finally, if you got one of the rare albino MSDN Web Snapshot CDs with your September issue, congratulations! This was a rare factory goof, and you stand to become very rich from this CD someday. Rich not in material goods, but in knowledge. Meanwhile, if you're unsure how to use the unprinted CD, just look at the writing etched into the CD near the center hole. You should be able to read the words from the top of the CD —J.T. The MIND Guide To Y2K Check the expiration dates on foods in your fridge. Some of them may reset themselves to 1900, making them 100 years old. If your credit cards have an expiration date after 1/2000, many card readers will think that it's 1900 again and your card will suddenly start working correctly, unlike now. Food will quickly become scarce as supermarket automatic doors stop operating. Make sure you have a large stock of long-expiration snacks like Cheetos, as well as a 50-gallon drum of a good jug varietal wine. We suggest Carlo Rossi Paisano. If you happen to be writing a computer program as the clock strikes midnight, January 1, 2000, you really need to get a life. The last vestiges of society will have collapsed by January 4, 2000. Make sure your credit card is completely maxed out by then, because hey! Free money! Since your neighbors will all be ravenous from hunger and thirst by noon on January 2, 2000, make sure you have an extra-large stockpile. Of weapons. The only good neighbor is a neighbor at the business end of a .44. No one's gonna lay a finger on your Cheetos but you. We're completely, certifiably, out-of-control insane! If you're convicted of a particularly heinous crime, make sure you ask for a 300-year sentence instead of life. That way, it'll reset to a 200-year sentence and you'll get out earlier. William McKinley will suddenly be president again, so plan accordingly. Also, you might suddenly find yourself partying like it's 1899. Set VCRs back one day to make sure you don't screw up taping of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. Because you just never know.