I do development work on the 11" MBA (4GB RAM, i7). We run VMs all day long, and you can definitely feel the lack of RAM in this scenario. For day to day use it

I do development work on the 11" MBA (4GB RAM, i7). We run VMs all day long, and you can definitely feel the lack of RAM in this scenario. For day to day use it's fantastic and I love the portability, but I really wish it were available with 8GB or more of memory - the SSD does not make up for the fact that it's constantly swapping (I currently have a 6GB swapfile with 3 million pageouts with less than two weeks uptime and three days of actual usage). CPU has not been a problem. I haven't used physical media in any real capacity since around 2007, so the lack of DVD burner is a welcome addition (less weight/bigger battery/slimmer profile/whatever else it entails). Before you ask - yes, I also use an external display. I'm not insane. But at the same time, the 11" screen does not feel cramped unless I'm doing heavy work away from the office. Would I get it again, over the Pro? Hard to say, given the amount of time it spends doing dev work. If they offer an 8GB option, it's an easy yes. Truth be told I'd prefer to just work off an iMac (or Mac Pro tower) and have a locked-down laptop that's really just for VPN stuff out of the office.