I recently bought Amy an HP Mini that came with HP's custom Ubuntu Linux called MIE (Mobile Internet Experience). It is a very nice machine and the operating system is perfect for Amy. It boots up and shuts down very quickly. It has a Solid State Drive instead of a Hard Drive, which helps with boot time. MIE's interface is very attractive and matches the computer's exterior. It suits her very well.
This is my first experience with a netbook and I am very impressed. One of the more important aspects of a netbook is start up and shut down time. Like I said, this little machine is very quick at those tasks. Also, interface is important because you want to be able to do your tasks quickly and efficiently. MIE has a very simple interface that allows you to quickly get into emails and web browsing. The desktop has Thunderbird and Firefox integrated into it, so new emails appear on the side and Firefox's address bar is on the desktop, along with links to your four favorite sites.
Notice in the bottom left corner of the above screen shot, there is a little HP button. Pressing that button brings you back to the desktop if an application is up. Also, at the bottom of the screen in the center there is a button with rotating arrows. That button switches between open applications. The two Windows keys on the keyboard have been replaced by an HP key and an application switcher key, with symbols that correspond to the buttons in the screen above.
MIE also comes with Open Office, Skype, and Pidgin. The operating system is not for power users who love to tweak and add programs all the time, but for those who want a simple, fast machine to do the things that netbooks are meant for, the HP Mini MIE edition is pretty sweet. I just love the fact that HP is innovative enough to give its users a custom Linux based operating system.
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