MicrosoftWriters have traditionally written abbreviated dates according to their local custom, creating all-numeric equivalents to dates such as, '3 November 2020' (03/11/20) and 'November 3, 2020' (11/03/20). This can result in dates that are impossible to understand correctly without knowing the writer's origin and/or other contextual details, as dates such as "10/11/06" can be interpreted as "10 November 2006" in the DMY format, "October 11, 2006" in MDY, and "2010 November 6" in YMD.
The ISO 8601 format YYYY-MM-DD (2020-11-02) is intended to harmonize these formats and ensure accuracy in all situations. Many countries have adopted it as their sole official date format, though even in these areas writers may adopt abbreviated formats that are no longer recommended.
Will the whole of Microsoft begin to standardize dates in format YYYY-MM-DD throughout their divisions, soon?
