[cmarcho]

I'm working on an article about Windows 7 on NetBooks in general, so tell me what you like so far about it on your mini, you can tell me your dislikes too but please keep all comments short and to the point. I'm not in dev so I'm not going to be able to fix anything for you!

I'm really interested in hearing how you've been able to use your Mini in an Enterprise environment as a useful tool at work. Obviously RDP to servers is nice to have on such a portable machine. What other tools run great on the mini that you use on a day-to-day basis?

What makes the mini better for these tasks than a laptop?
What about the mini makes it great for an IT admin or technical manager?
What does the mini do well that it is not really marketed for? (since they are touted as 'email and surfing' machines)

Please don't tell me about the problems that will clearly be addressed before the official release.

You may either reply here, or send info to me via PM.

Thanks!

[holmes4]

The Mini is a netbook. Its advantages are portability (size and weight) and cost, compared to a traditional notebook. Other than that, there are no advantages compared to traditional notebooks. I would seriously question the use of any netbook in an Enterprise environment unless the portability and cost aspects were overriding. The small screen and keyboard do not work well with some traditional enterprise applications. But if you don't need a full-size notebook, the Mini is easy to tuck into a bag and use in cramped spaces.

As for Windows 7, the particular advantages on the Mini are its smaller memory/disk footprint and resource usage compared to Vista (XP is still smaller, though) and it knowing about solid-state disks to improve performance and SSD longevity. The user interface works well on the small screen, and I like the way the wireless support reconnects quickly to known access points.

[jdizzle]

While most of the time I only use my mini for surfing and writing docs, I have recently convinced my father/boss to let me use it for our inventory/product control(I use a custom program my friend Dave wrote for our company). This is handy because I no longer have to carry around a clipboard with my inventory list/product control forms from facility to facility. I just punch it into the program like I did before and when I get back to our shop the mini finds the network and updates the forms on our main computer, no more writing this stuff in the field and entering when I get back. This leaves more time to stroll through the MDM forum. Glad I don't have to lug around the inspiron 1200 they originally wanted me to use. The best thing about the mini 9-- here where I live, the chicks absolutely dig it. My wife has 'scolded' me a few times for receiving more attention than I'm justified while we are out having coffee, keeps her on her toes. I've probably sold at least a hundred of these things from people coming up to me wanting to check it out. Even more attention now with Win 7 and the Aero/flip 3D on it(people are amazed that such a tiny computer can 'do that'. I'm amazed they still haven't heard of netbooks.

[palo34]

Reply to the revious posts.

Given the fact that enterprise environments in big corporations, people access remote applications, and storage can be provision via network devices.
A netbook docked to a monitor, with keyboard and mouse is a good setting.

The working space on the monitor of the mini is not suitable for graphics, development, or anything that requires many applcations opened.

I don't think it is a good idea to do actual work on the keyboard that comes with it.

However, I don't know how exchange, the office, and the legacy applications, and services would integrate with windows 7. In fact, not many corporations are supporting XP. their infrastructure is windows 200X.

****

what I like about windows 7 ?
it runs fairly fast on the pc.
seems to detect the ssd hardrive.
The themes and the interface of windows 7 is elegant, and still, you don't have to waste a lot of time learning it.
I am surprised with the response of the GUI. I just installed it yesterday, and will remain there.

[nollie]

Windows 7 does look very nice and runs surprisingly well.

I've been using it with OpenOffice to do any work, but there isn't all that much space available on my 16GB SSD afterwards.

[holmes4]

In my employer's enterprise environment, laptops all run XP (if not Linux) - even those that ship from the manufacturer with Vista get XP loaded on them. The company is skipping Vista and has said it will adopt Windows 7.

This really has little bearing on the infrastructure - as long as the appropriate tools run on W7, such as Outlook, they can communicate with the needed servers.

I can't connect my personal equipment to the corporate network so I can't test whether in fact it would work. I think the Mini would be great for someone who travels around doing presentations, responding to email, etc., but it would be annoying for longer sessions unless connected to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse.

[jdizzle]

I've used my mini for a couple of presentations and inservices for the products we carry. The problem is that everybody is always more interested in the mini than the presentation. It seems like a lot of these nurses sit through it so they can ask question about the mini afterward As far as enterprise goes, My uncle has connected to the CBS network in Los Angeles on my mini so he could have Drew Carey come look at it, that's the closest I will ever get to an enterprise network.

[minuteman]

I know this silly, but , I really like the games. The time wasters that are included are fun for me.
The appearance of the OS in contrast to XP is slick and modern. Everything runs smooth.
Apart from that, what is there to like..j/k

[needamini]

My only gripe about the Mini in an enterprise environment is the location of the location of the \ key. The Mini keyboard requires the Fn modifier to type a \. That isn't really a Win7 gripe, but it makes this machine difficult for an IT person to use.

Win7 on the Mini does everything Win7 would do on a desktop, so I have no gripes there. With a 16GB drive and 1GB of RAM there's plenty of power to run RSAT tools and do normal IT work.

[cohoman]

I'm curious, does anyone know approximately how much space is taken up for an Windows 7 install? I've got the most current beta version available as an iso image, and I wanted to ask the size requirements before attempting an install (after a full image back of the original WinXP OS, of course!).

Thanks.