Before the process began, Mike removed all the data on the machine just in case anything went wrong. The installation itself took 42 minutes and 30 seconds and was a fairly easy and painless process.

Windows 7 promises to have a faster boot up and also promises to reduce the number of clicks needed for common tasks. Mike found that the boot up time is indeed faster than Vista and that several of the new features really would allow for the easy completion of tasks.

One of the most noticeable features is the taskbar. The quick launch toolbar is gone, but the new taskbar is very speedy and user-friendly. In addition, it allows you to pin and unpin programs for your own personalization. Windows 7 also has a snap feature that makes it very easy to compare two windows. Security is also enhanced with 7 and gives users the power to manage the much-hated User Account Control from Vista.

There are many more features and tasks still to be tested, but for now, Windows 7 does seem to be an improvement over Windows Vista. But then again, is there anything that could be worse?

Although social media adoption is increasing, many brands are still struggling to be effective with it. Businesses have to understand what consumers are doing now in order to be successful moving forward.

One trend that businesses need to grasp is that “real-time is not fast enough.” Customers are quick and companies, no matter how big the staff, just cannot keep up. Owyang advises businesses to create advocacy programs to address this issue. An advocacy program is a group of customers that act as a company’s “army” and take care of problems that arise. Since most companies already have a group of people that support them, all they have to do is enable them for the task.

Another trend is that most consumers find corporate websites irrelevant. As a result, businesses should utilize platforms such as Facebook Connect, Google Friend Connect, and Twitter Connect to bring a social experience to their own website. In addition, businesses have the opportunity to personalize its content for customers.

Predicting the future is nearly impossible. But if you look at what is happening around you and integrate it into your business, chances are, you will be just fine.

Looking at the last Presidential election, Obama reached out through social networks to spread his message. On the contrary, McCain stuck with traditional methods and called home telephones with his recorded message. Obama’s message was distributed across Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and more, and he won as a result.

Brogan believes all users should apply that model to get the message out since there is so much good that can be done. For example, actor Anthony Edwards is utilizing social media to raise awareness and funds for a children’s hospital in Africa. Social networks are powerful tools to get needed messages out.

Up to this point, the use of social networks has been sloppy. However, Brogan believes that now is the time to use these tools to get the message to the right people. He says: “It’s time to get over being a tourist. It’s time to put a claim down and do something with it and really tend it.”

Fitton has seen personally what can happen with Twitter and encourages others to utilize it and achieve the same success. There are, however, some rules to follow in order to reach that level. Fitton’s #1 tip for success for Twitter users and especially for business users, is to be selfless.

She says that users must contribute something of value on a regular basis. Instead of making it a self-serving effort, it needs to build a community in which users want to come back for more. Other tips that Fitton offers for any social media platform are: listen, learn, care, and serve. If these rules are applied, she says, “You will absolutely have success.”

Fitton is a firm believer in the idea that if you offer people more, they will be able to accomplish more and help others follow suit. As a result, she has one other item to add to her list of accomplishments from her success on Twitter. Her latest achievement is a new company called OneForty that consolidates the very best tools to help bring users value on Twitter. She refers to it as “the Yelp for Twitter apps.” To learn more about the company, visit their site.

Do you want to be successful on Twitter?

One area of controversy is in regards to Kawasaki sending out the same tweet multiple times, a practice some people refer to as spam. Secondly, he has been greatly criticized for the “ghosts,” or other people he has tweeting for him.

In spite of the scrutiny, Kawasaki defends his strategy on Twitter. In a Q & A post on his blog, he explained his reasoning for repeating his tweets. He said:

“I repeat a handful of my tweets because I don’t assume that all my followers are reading me 24 x 7 x 365. This is the same reason that ESPN and CNN repeat the same news stories (without updates, simply identical reports) throughout the day.”

In response to the opposition of his ghosts, Kawasaki told WebProNews:

“At the end of the day, the ultimate test is not who tweeted it, as much as, is it interesting.”

As a result of the controversy, his ghosts now identify when they are tweeting. Ironically, he said that one of his ghosts actually gets retweeted more than he does.

Although his usage of Twitter has been brought under attack numerous times, it doesn’t appear to be affecting his success on the service at all. Since Twitter is a free and open platform, is there really a wrong way to use it?

Nielsen Online found that the average American visits 111 domains and 2,554 web pages each month. Based upon those statistics, it is very important that content publishers have visibility everywhere that people are spending time.

As a result, Rubel found a new publishing platform that he believes is more efficient. The platform is called Posterous and it allows users to syndicate content out to the social networks they are personally involved with. It makes it a lot easier to publish to centralized places such as Facebook and Twitter, since people are already on those social networks.

Fortunately, Rubel is not abandoning blogging but is simply modernizing his approach. His posts are shorter and are more visually enhanced. Micro Persuasion now serves as his archived content and his new site is called The Steve Rubel Lifestream.

The actor has an online talk show called Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show. The set is simple and consists of a black background and round wooden table, similar to a Charlie Rose set. Unlike other talk shows offline, Pollak’s show has no time limitations or censorship. The typical running time is one hour, but if it continues for two hours or longer, no one stops it.

The comedian has been approached by some television networks and asked to adapt his show for them. Because the standard traditional media boundaries would apply, he has refused all offers.

Pollak also recognizes the value of his audience and allows them to play a large role in the show. He says it is as much their show at it is his own. The viewers send in questions for the guests, participate in contests, and even submitted the theme song for the show.

Although he considers himself to “still be diving into the shallow end,” Pollak sees the importance of the social Web and is way ahead of some of his peers in traditional media. He refers to the new media space as the “wild west of a frontier that is the future.” He went on to say, “and the future is here. It’s now, it’s today, [and] it’s been going on for a while.”

As a word of advice to others, the comedian said:

“Don’t deny its [new media's] existence and it’s a golden opportunity to reach out to people all over the world instantly.”

Pollak’s show is streamed live on Sundays at 5 PM PDT and can be viewed at www.kevinpollakschatshow.com or on his YouTube channel.

The actor told WebProNews that he avoided new media for a long time. After he became involved with the charity Shoe4Africa and saw the need to raise awareness, he realized how powerful new media could be for communication. In reference to the blogosphere and twittersphere, Edwards said:

“There’s a transparency here that, if your message is real and good, people are gonna get it.”

He views these forms of social media as valuable tools for not only his charity, but for any cause. In addition to getting the message out, new media provides a sense of urgency that other outlets do not offer. Because pediatric health has been overlooked in Africa for too long, Edwards sees the need to act now.  He even began tweeting for the cause at this year’s BlogWorld Expo. The actor believes new media will raise the awareness and support his charity desperately needs.

Incidentally, Edwards will be running in the ING New York City Marathon on November 1 to raise funds for Shoe4Africa. If you would like to learn more and even contribute to this cause, visit Shoe4Africa or the organization’s Facebook Causes page.

Goss is utilizing social media to get his message out to his fans all over the world. In spite of releasing albums for 20 years, he tells WebProNews that he has never seen the sense of immediacy that social media brings. Upon sending out a tweet, the singer receives hundreds of responses in a matter of minutes.

Social media also eliminates the middleman who has been a standard in industries such as the music industry for so long. The international star is now able connect directly with his fans and get true perspectives. Goss not only believes that it is important for celebrities to utilize social media, but he also emphasizes how important it is that everyone embrace it, saying it gives everyone a voice.

Although the Internet provides many liberties and outlets for users to freely express themselves, Goss wants his message to reflect value and respect for those who fought to give us the freedoms we have.

To truly fulfill her desires, she created a blog where she could write about whatever she wanted, such as ninjas, sex, zombies, William Shatner, and more. In addition, she developed a satirical sex column and an advice column.

Because some people consider her content controversial, Lawson has received a fair share of hate mail. Instead of letting it get the best of her, she told WebProNews that she turns it into something positive: free entertainment. For example, people have told her “your retarded,” but in all actuality, the joke is on them since they misspelled “you’re.” She said:

“If you’re not entertained by your own blog and both the people that love you and the people that hate you, then I think you’re missing out.”

Lawson believes that many people feel limited to being a part of large niches online, such as those carved out by mommy bloggers, SEO experts, or marketers. She, however, encourages others to utilize the Web to do what makes them happy.

“The Internet gives you the ability to make yourself whatever you want to be,” said Lawson.