Free Fax • Free Internet Faxing. 12 Tips for an Organized Desk. How I Work: Bill Gates - Apr. 7, 2006. Not much of a paper chase for Microsoft's chairman, who uses a range of digital tools to do business. Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect, Microsoft, U.S.A. NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - It's pretty incredible to look back 30 years to when Microsoft (Research) was starting and realize how work has been transformed. We're finally getting close to what I call the digital workstyle. If you look at this office, there isn't much paper in it. On my desk I have three screens, synchronized to form a single desktop. I can drag items from one screen to the next. Once you have that large display area, you'll never go back, because it has a direct impact on productivity.
The screen on the left has my list of e-mails. At Microsoft, e-mail is the medium of choice, more than phone calls, documents, blogs, bulletin boards, or even meetings (voicemails and faxes are actually integrated into our e-mail in-boxes). I get about 100 e-mails a day. I'm not big on to-do lists. Next: See the 2006 FORTUNE 500.