Photo: Fortune magazine
Fortune magazine has a first-person piece from Bill Gates about how he works -- and you could well have similar or better equipment, except for the three 21-inch NEC flat screens. His main computers are a Dell desktop and a Motion Tablet PC, and he also has a Logitech webcam.
You probably don't have the same software, except possibly for Outlook. Gates also uses OneNote and SharePoint collaboration software, about which practically everyone is sadly ignorant. OneNote runs on any PC but is mainly used on Tablet PCs, and it's great for journalists, because it can synchronise a direct-to-PC recording with your handwritten (on-screen) notes. Not having a Tablet, I keep meaning to try it on a desktop. I'm not sure who uses Sharepoint Portal Server -- mostly big companies, I expect. However, many more people will be able to use it when the Office Live website opens for business.
The advantages of using two or prefereably three screens have been researched and should be widely known by now -- if not, Mary Branscombe did a piece in Guardian Online in 2003. As she says, the showstopper is usually finding the desk space.
Otherwise, I expect Gates's choice of software will get a kicking in the blogosphere, and that in more than 99% of cases, it will be by people who have never actually used it.
If I could add a question, it would be: Hey, Bill, why aren't you using Vista?
