Bill Gates On Twitter & Has Hundreds of Thousands of Followers

Bill Gates is now on twitter. According to reports he had over 100,000 followers in 2 days! That is approx 2000 followers added per hour! (Twitter servers got hit!)

If you want to see his interests and posts, check it out:
http://twitter.com/BillGates

Landis Computer Moves HP Business Class Computers: CEO says "HP has a compelling business PC"

Landis Computer has a long relationship with a white box PC manufacturer but after looking at the quality and features of the newest generation of business class HP desktop computers we have made the switch to HP as our desktop computer supplier.
We did not make this change lightly and below are some of the items that went into the decision.

-no junkware (runs faster--no time wasted removing it)
-low power consumption (even over other new pc models)
-12 USB ports!
-parallel and serials ports
-sound and speakers built in case
-Solid Busines Class Case/Chassis
-3 year HP warranty! (Known to be excellent)
-This Warranty covers our Nationwide Clients
-Very competetive price



Landis Computer CEO, Matt Landis says “We put a lot of thought into this move. HP business class desktops are not the cheapest computer in the field but we feel the best business value. HP is the largest computer manufacturer in the world for a reason. HP has a compelling business PC”

Windows 7 Adventures Part 2: Connecting My HP IPAQ 910c Mobile Phone

At our company we are tightening up some of our security measures (after sitting in a session by Dana Epp at SMBNation and getting his security tirade--one we needed by the way. ;-)

One of those measures is getting a security certificate that is not self signed for Remote Web Workplace and for our Direct Push email for our Windows Mobile devices. Our server guy told me all I need to do is drop a cert on my mobile device and click on it and it will be ready to roll.

I gleefully slapped my hands and thot "Now I can BREAK Windows 7!". I plugged my HP IPAQ 910c Business Communicator Windows Mobile 6.1 phone into my newly Windows 7 laptop with a mini USB cable. And waited for destruction! ;-) I was rewarded with a little notification down beside the clock that popped up and said "this usb device is not recognized". I ALMOST jumped for joy(?) that I had finally found something that Win7 wouldn't do right...but wait...automatically an install window with a progress bar popped up...Win7 was installing something...what?....and in a few seconds my IPAQ was fully installed and the below window popped up!

From Windows 7 Stuff

Not only had Windows 7 installed the driver for my PRECISE phone it popped up a menu after it installed (not nagging me to do something I didn't want to do like sync or something) and let me do just what I wanted to: just drop a file in a folder!

Since my efforts at "busting" Windows 7 aren't going very good I shouldn't bother to mention the the cert install went flawless too...

Keep tuned...my efforts to "bust" Windows 7 will continue...

ps--if Microsoft doesn't hurry up and make some mistakes with Windows7 I'm afraid it's going to be a smash hit. I didn't even talk about it's inuitive new UI that should instill fear in Apple...;-)

Windows 7 Adventures Part 1: Converting My Home Network to Windows 7

I've been casually playing with Windows 7. So far I've been taking the safe road: just loading it on test laptops at work. ;-) My initial opinion from those tests has left me highly impressed with Windows 7. But being the perennially cautious guy (I'm know at work for a quote: "If you didn't test it, it DOESN'T work!") I decided it's high time to test Windows 7 in a live environment on computers I depend on. I decided the first test would be my home network.

What does my home network consist of? 3 Thinkpad laptops, 1 Dell Workstation, 1 SNOM IP P phone handset and a Linksys WRT54G wireless router. Also there is a OfficeJet J6480 WIFI printer. Everything was Windows XP Pro except one Vista Ultimate laptop. My list of applications to be installed: Office 2009 Enterprise, Adobe Reader 9, PDFCreator, Live Mesh (web network drive), iTunes* and PowerBible (a Bible research program I use). Oh, I do use AVG too. Since Landis Computer manages networks I'm pretty defined in what I install so that is pretty much the list.

So far I have "clean installed" Windows 7 the 2 most used Thinkpads. How did the upgrade go? I keep shaking my head in amazement. The initial install is brainless and quick.

I did need to manually load the ATI video drivers on the one Thinkpad to get full resolution and Aero to work. I'm not sure why because the other Thinkpad is the same model and I didn't need to. But a small blip there.

After I got AVG and all Windows updates going I decided it was time to install my Wifi connected network HP Office Jet J6480. I took a deep sigh because I figured THIS is where we will get stuck. I tried the original HP install disc first: It said the OS was not supported. Ok, that's understandable. I went to my old ways: Google. A couple posts noted that J6480 doesn't work on Win7 and complaints. Then I thot: Why not use Win7 Add Printer Wizard? My mind was saying it probably won't work but I tried the Win7 Add Printer Wizard and 6 clicks later the OfficeJet was installed! Wow!

What were the steps?
Start > Devices & Printers > Add Printers > Add Network Printer...
Next Windows 7 will check the network (including WIFI) and show you a list of printers. You just click on it and it's installed.

From Windows 7 Stuff

I continue to amazed by Windows 7 in spite of my skepticism. ;-)

Windows 7 Adventure Parts to follow: How did my Applications work? Could I easily connect my HP Mobile phone?

* I won an iPod at the SMBNation conference a year or two ago and sold it to stay loyal to my Microsoft roots. ;-) But then this spring I found an iPod Nano complete with headsets lying in my front yard! After making sure it was not any of my neighbors I began playing with it and am now hooked!

Windows 7 real life review, windows 7 experience

Why Windows 7 Is Making People & Companies Wish They Could Get Their Hands On It

Remember that this is just a sampling of new features. There are many, many more. As a Microsoft GOLD Partner we are very confident that Windows 7 will be a winner. (In fact I'm personally eager to move my home network to Windows 7.) Remember this is coming from a Microsoft Partner that usually has quite a "wait and see" attitude about new releases.

(Blazing?) Fast Performance: According to a test done by Zdnet of 25 everyday/realworld tasks Windows 7 beat Vista and even XP on every one. See Source Here.

Reduced Startup Time: New "Instant On" supposed to reduce start up to 15seconds. Windows 7 reduces start up to 50% in some cases even without using "Instant On".

ISO Disk Burning Now Built-In: Before Windows 7 3rd party software install was needed but with Win7 it is built in. One less thing to clutter your Windows.

Search Text Inside TIFF Image Files: Now you can search TIFF files by text contained in them. Makes Windows 7 one step closer to being a simple document management system for small companies.

DirectAccess: A new seamless and simple way for remote users to connect to their Windows Server network.

Securely Use USB Drives with BitLocker: Allows USB drives to be easily encrypted so if they are lost no data/passwords/financial data gets in the wrong hands.

Wordpad Gets Major Face lift: Looks just like the latest version of Microsoft Word with ribbon menus. But still no spell checker. ;-)

Total Compatibility With Windows XP Mode: No need to worry that an XP application will be incompatible with Windows 7 because with XP Mode your app will actually be running on XP. (transparent to user)

I suggest that companies begin to plan to take advantage of the benefit of Windows 7. I didn't say this with Vista but I think Windows 7 is a product that will bring immediate and realworld value to many small companies.

Want to read more?
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/products/windows-7.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windows_7

microsoft gold partner highly recommends windows 7, microsoft gold partner recommends companies plan to implement windows 7,

Windows 7 First Look: WOW!

I was hoping to have more details to share but after installing and using Windows 7 I have to get the news out: I'm impressed!

To make sure you know that I don't gush about new versions of Windows I need to let you know at our firm we still don't recommend Vista be placed into an existing network. And we always have a "wait and see" on new server and desktop operating systems (and for that matter any new product). I hate unstable products. (that is an understatement ;-) I guess I'm more your normal "i have 3 seconds" CEO than unruffled geek, but I want stuff TO WORK!

Why am I impressed?

Fast Performance: I think the number one issue with Vista is performance and I think that is what's sticking in the public's mind. And my mind. Vista is just a dog. I have a dual core laptop with 2GB of ram that runs soo slow I don't even use it for work...I decided to take a look at Windows 7 and installed it on one of our "beater" laptops at the office. P2.4 with 1GB of RAM and it runs as fast as Windows XP! Now THAT gets my attention.

Fast Install: I am amazed at the simplicity of installing Windows 7: Very few clicks and 30 minutes and your up and running. Remember that 30 minutes is on an old laptop, with an old hardrive and a p2.4g processor!

Compatible: I threw some odd ball/esoteric software at it to see if it would work: A security camera recording system and a windows based phone system* and they both ran perfectly out of the gate.

I would like to do a quick video review on Windows 7, so keep watching. Please remember Windows 7 is beta and do not use it in a live environment.

My only comment: This product needs to be shipped ASAP.

* This was not 3CX. Unfortunately 3cx IP PBX did not run well (some services would not stay running) on Windows 7. Because every other software did I'm not going to blame Windows 7. Well I'm not going to blame anyone because Windows 7 IS Beta.