1. Netbook: Mini computers, weighing around 2 pounds and the size of a large book, are ideal tools for the busy executives and professionals on the go. They are not as powerful as traditional notebooks, the screens are a lot smaller and the battery life is not as long.

Software Application Installation
Now that the operating systems are running smoothly after several rounds of Microsoft patches, updates,

Installation
The install process on both the workstation and laptop when quite smoothly. With each new version of OS Microsoft releases, the installation wizard continues to improve. The most recent addition to the wizard that allows the user to better understand the process and time remaining is a progress bar with verbiage that states what is be installed or configured.

32 or 64 bit operating system?
I opted for the 64 bit flavor of Win7

This series of blog posts will report on the experiences with the new Microsoft Windows 7 RC operating system. The RC stands for Release Candidate which means that it is close to finished, but there are still bugs to kill, tweaking, and optimization remaining before the final version ships.

Background: After auditioning Microsoft''s new Windows 7 (referred to Win7 here forward) operating system over the past 6 months on virtual machines without any major issues, I decided to migrate the new OS into my everyday work and personal life. Just like much of the articles and reviews on Win7, my experienced showed a clean and elegant environment, snappy response times (even when installed on a virtual machine on my laptop), and quite a few UI improvements. While not all the applications that we use on a daily basis were installed on the virtual machine installation, most were and worked with any issues.

Both my home office workstation and laptop were getting "long in the tooth" (which is approximately 9-10 months in my estimation), and both were showing signs of unnecessary delays in boot times, application launching, and general response. While I typically go to great pains to keep as much miscellaneous software off my systems to keep them clean and lean, over time these random applications still seem to find a way onto my machines. It seems the right time to rebuild two of the three main systems that use on a daily basis. Notice that my office workstation is omitted from these posts... for now.

This is a series of posts that will feature my views on the future of technologies, companies, and trends. At times there will be an explanation associated with the mentioned topic and others will not.

Microsoft - Windows 7 is looking very promising. From all the leaked news and beta releases, W7 will put MS back inbthe "good graces" of corporations, IT staffs, end-users, and consumers. The new OS is performing remarkably on even the weakest of platforms (ie the recently popular netbooks). Anyone remember Windows Me? Yeah, a real piece of junk. Windows Me was the OS that led to Windows XP. While Vista has received an undue amount of bad press over the past couple of years, it is the first version of what is to become Windows 7. 

6. digg.com.

While Digg.com is not new to 2008, the popular awareness great to a great degree during last year, so we've added to the list.

8. Abel Reels website. There were quite a few impressive website designs from last year, but Abel takes the top prize. Their website is a perfect example of great design, superb usability, amazing photography, and the right amount of text to make a lasting impression on their customers. The designers borrowed the Mac style of marketing, and then they took it one notch higher.