Netbooks combine mobility and low cost, two attractive qualities that, until recently, were mutually exclusive in notebook makers' product lines. The question is, can you get anything done with them?

eWEEK Labs reviewed the Lenovo IdeaPad S10, the Asus Eee PC 1000H, and the HP Mini, and based on what we've learned, we're offering up some evaluation criteria for determining whether the lightweight, low-cost netbooks are a good fit for your users' computing needs.

And yes, this Slashdot submission was written on a netbook.

Last week I attended a technical workshop on Windows Server 2008 at Microsoft's Redmond campus, where I, alongside a gaggle of other tech journalists from all over the world, spent three days having my head stuffed with details about Microsoft's forthcoming server products, including its new solution for mid-sized companies.

Microsoft's newly-minted Windows Essential Business Server offers a very compelling answer to the question, "How can a mid-sized business consume all the same sorts of Microsoft core server products that a large enterprise might consume?" Here's the rub: It seems to me that the new server is an excellent answer to the wrong question.

Microsoft is on the right track here, but they have to start thinking outside the shrink-wrapped box.

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