How Bill Gates Uses Office and Three Monitors - Bill Gates - Lifehacker

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Bill Gates drops a lengthy blog post explaining how he gets things done, Microsoft style, using three monitors to watch an inbox, read or write documents, and browse the web. Spoiler: He also digs SharePoint, LiveMeeting, and other MS apps.

Photo by batmoo.

Gates writes that he gets at least 100 emails per day from Microsoft employees, and "many more" from customers and partners. How does he filter all that information across three large flat-screen displays?

I keep my Outlook 2007 Inbox open on the screen to the left so I can see new messages as they come in. I usually have the message or document that I'm currently reading or writing in the center screen. The screen on the right is where I have room to open up a browser or look at a document that someone has sent me in e-mail.

That's not so atypical from the standard three-monitor setup, but it is interesting how he devotes two entire screens to message streams and the messages themselves. A lot of the rest of the post reads like endorsement copy for Office products like SharePoint, LiveMeeting, and other peripheral Office apps, but we don't doubt that Gates truly does appreciate the "unified communications technology" that puts everything into one Outlook bin. Next time you're up for blogging, though, Bill? Post screenshots.

Do you get things done like Gates, or do you find his methods a bit too integrated? Read through his work routine description, then tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Office Hours: How Bill Gates uses Office [Inside Office Online blog via Lifehacker Australia]

iMashable > Social Media news blog covering cool new websites and social networks: Facebook, Google, Twitter, MySpace, Microsoft and YouTube.

10 Ways Google Is Trying To Kill Microsoft

(alleyinsider.com) --

Perhaps the most exciting tech battle to watch: Google's (GOOG) intensifying clash with fellow titan Microsoft (MSFT), as the two square off in almost every major line of business.

Click here to see 10 ways Google is trying to kill Microsoft →

The latest: In the last few months, each company has launched a direct attack on their arch rival's most important business. Most recently, Google announced that it was developing a desktop operating system, Chrome OS, and Microsoft launched a new search engine, Bing.

Google's success or failure with its operating system attack will be particularly interesting to watch, as it's Google's first attempt to disrupt Microsoft's most important business. Redmond has enjoyed many years (and billions of dollars) on top of the operating system market with DOS and Windows, and besides Apple, no one's been able to obtain share in the consumer market.

Why does that matter? During Microsoft's last fiscal year, Windows contributed 25% of Microsoft's revenue and 53% of its operating profit.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is attacking Google's biggest business, search. Its most recent product launch, Bing, is a good product that's been just a modest success so far: Microsoft's share of the U.S. search market was 8.4% in June, up from 8.0% in May, according to comScore.

Perhaps more important: It looks like Microsoft is close to finally signing a search and advertising partnership with Yahoo. While that takes one of Google's enemies out of its sights, it means that its lone major rival will have more resources and motivation behind it.

Why does this matter to Microsoft? Because it's burned through billions of dollars over the last few years trying to be a big player on the Web, and it will have great hopes and expectations for its deal with Yahoo. And for Google, because search generates more than 90% of its revenue, and funds many of its unprofitable, maybe-Microsoft-killing projects, such as Google Apps, Chrome OS, and Android.

But those are just two of the many fronts in Google's war with Microsoft.

Click here to see 10 ways Google is trying to kill Microsoft →

Techtree.com India > News > Internet > Bing Lands into Worlds Top 20 Websites

How much time does it take to launch a new service and bring it in to the coveted "worlds most visited" sites list? Not much if the service happens to be a Search Engine, and more importantly, if the search engine is from Microsoft. Well, it's not the most visited website as yet. However, breaking into the top 20 was cakewalk for Bing, which managed the feat in just about two months from the launch date.

So, ladies and gentlemen, it's now official. Microsoft's Bing, launched sometime in June, has now made its quiet entry into Alexa's top 20 list. It is still behind the likes of Facebook and Twitter. Strangely, Alexa's "top 20" page still lists Bing's erstwhile Avatar, Windows Live Search at the number five spot. Windows Live is dead for all practical purposes as going to live.com redirects to Bing now.

While it may have inched itself into the top 20 list, it is still way behind Google, which continues to dominate the number one position. In second place is Yahoo followed by another Google property, YouTube. Almost two months since the launch of Bing, it sure is a good sign for Microsoft about Bing's growth. However, it still has a long way to go before it can ruffle the feathers of folks over at Google in the Search Engine wars. As for Bing, its growth, in sheer numbers has been great; however, the overall usage pales in comparison to Google.

Official Google Blog: Seeing the world with improved Google Search results

Now, when you search for locations using Google Search, you may see pictures from that place alongside a map. You can click on any of those images to go to the photos layer on Google Maps where you can browse many more geo-tagged photos.

So if you searched for [Paris], you'd see:


Here's [Yellowstone National Park]:


We think this is a great way to get a better sense of a location as well as get a taste of some of the great user-contributed photos that await on Google Maps. We hope you'll have a fun time exploring!

Twitter Not Outlawed In The White House. And More Tweets Are Coming.

The Internet got in a bit of a tizzy this weekend when it was reported that Twitter was banned from being accessed from inside the White House. What is this, Iran, some wondered? But have no fear, despite what White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told C-SPAN, Twitter is apparently not entirely blocked and they’re working to open it up more, Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told Mediaite today.

Here’s where the confusion apparently comes from. Access to Twitter’s website is blocked on most White House computers, but that’s only for security and recordkeeping reasons for the time-being. Apparently, the White House is working with the White House counsel and the Office of Administration CIO “to review and relax these restrictions,” Burton says. And, more importantly, it is apparently not official policy of the White House that staffers are not allowed to tweet, and some do so from their own web-connected devices.

And there are computers that can post to Twitter in the White House right now via HootSuite, which you see from time to time as the source of official White House tweets. But most of the official White House account tweets are done by the new media team (consisting of Director of New Media Macon Phillips and Online Programs Director Jesse Lee), from the new media offices are in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (which is next door to the White House). President Obama’s account is apparently handled by the DNC.

So there you go, while it is hard to tweet from inside the White House right now, it’s not impossible, and they’re trying to make it easier. It’s just a matter of recordkeeping and, quite literally, national security right now, which seems understandable.

And the White House wants you to know that it likes Twitter. It tweets about it not once, but twice today. First, to clear up the banning issue. And second, like a good Twitter user, to promote itself to try to get a million followers.

Lastly, it seems Burton has a good sense of humor about the whole thing. When asked to name some White House staffers that tweet, he replied:

I have an account that I follow on my personal blackberry but I don’t actually twitter myself. It’s more to keep track of what Diddy and Perez Hilton are up to all day.

Apple Is Growing Rotten To The Core: Official Google Voice App Blocked From App Store

Earlier today we learned that Apple had begun to pull all Google Voice-enabled applications from the App Store, citing the fact that they “duplicate features that come with the iPhone”. Now comes even worse news: we’ve learned that Apple has blocked Google’s official Google Voice application itself from the App Store. In other words, Google Voice — one of the best things to happen to telephony services in a very long time — will have no presence at all on the App Store. If there’s ever been a time to be furious with Apple, now is it.

A Google Spokesperson has told us the following:

We work hard to bring Google applications to a number of mobile platforms, including the iPhone. Apple did not approve the Google Voice application we submitted six weeks ago to the Apple App Store. We will continue to work to bring our services to iPhone users — for example, by taking advantage of advances in mobile browsers.

Of course, it’s not hard to guess who’s behind the restriction: our old friend AT&T. Google Voice scares the carriers. It allows users to send free SMS messages and get cheap long-distance over Google Voice’s lines. It also makes it trivial to switch to a new phone service, because everyone calls the Google Voice number anyway. Carriers have known about Google Voice for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that it began accepting new users, and there has still been some hassle associated with actually using the service. Smartphone apps like GV Mobile remove many of those hassles, which is why AT&T is keen to keep them off the iPhone (Google already has official apps available for BlackBerry and Android).

Here’s another testament to just how ridiculous this move is: GV Mobile’s developer Sean Kovacs says that the app was personally approved last April by Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing — the man who often takes the stage during Apple keynotes when Steve Jobs isn’t around. Kovacs says that Schiller called him to personally apologize for the delay in initially getting the application approved. Now, I’m sure Apple has laid out in its terms of service somewhere that you’re not allowed to mimic the iPhone’s functionality. But when you’ve got a blessing from that high up, that would seem like a pretty good indication that the application belongs in the App Store.

The thing that really bothers me about the move is that Apple is now actively stifling innovation. Google Voice is the kind of service that can actually have a positive impact on your life, and not in a frivolous, entertainment-related sense. It makes it easier to connect with people, and to manage those connections. Apple can point to the App Store’s 50,000 applications all it wants, but how many of them could truly be called groundbreaking? Are they really putting a dent in the universe?

All the more upsetting is that this comes from the company that Steve Jobs built. The company that once made record labels bow to a flat 0.99 pricing structure for years longer than they would have liked is now screwing customers because AT&T asked them to. They’re trying to limit what I can and can’t run on my mobile phone — a phone whose marketing is largely based on its extensibility.

Back when the App Store first launched there were some warnings about its walled garden approach — could developers trust Apple to maintain a fair marketplace? Until recently, Apple has managed the store in a generally benevolent, if not somewhat incompetent manner. But now things are taking a turn for the worse. From a handicapped Sling app to blocked apps from Qik and Google Voice, it’s becoming clear that Apple is doing its best to keep many of the iPhone’s most game-changing apps away from users. Palm, if you’re looking for marketing material — take note.

Image by brankomaster.

Google Sells Back Its Stake in AOL. There Goes $700 Million.

Google finally sold back its 5 percent stake in AOL to Time Warner. Originally valued at $1 billion in 2005, Google ended up getting back only $283 million, including some cash distributions. There goes roughly $700 million, but Google already took a writedown on the investment back in the fourth quarter when the whole world was going to pot and nobody really noticed.

Time Warner took back the shares in preparation for the eventual public spinoff of AOL. When Google initially bought the shares, it valued AOL at $20 billion. Based on the price Time Warner paid for the repurchase of the shares, AOL is now worth $5.7 billion. I’m sure by the time it actually goes public, new CEO Tim Armstrong and AOL’s bankers are going to be arguing that it is worth a lot more.

So did Google get hosed on this investment? Pretty much. But you have to remember that it was part of a larger search outsourcing deal which Google still makes money from today. AOL on its own commands a 3 percent search market share and as such is probably Google’s largest partner site. Even if Google didn’t make back its investment over the past four years, the search volume AOL provides itself is worth paying for. (Search is a volume game, the more search queries you can throw ads against, the better the ROI). So don’t feel too bad for Google. It was buying distribution which helped it maintain its overall market dominance.