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Sneak Peek: Lotus Previews Notes Release 5

Notes installed base tops 20 million; Lotus plans beta release next quarter of new version that focuses on %dquotknowledge management.%dquot

By Laurianne McLaughlin, PCWorld   

ORLANDO, FLORIDA--IBM and Lotus have finished with the blue suit jokes and are gaining momentum in making Notes a corporate uniform. Lotus has just broken the 20 million mark for installed Notes users, president Jeff Papows announced on Monday at the Lotusphere 98 show. Introducing plans for the year ahead, Papows had few words for his competitors: %dquotGet the hell out of our way,%dquot he declared. Notes users will like what he has up his sleeve.

At this annual gathering for Notes customers, developers, and business partners, the star attraction was a sneak peek at the upcoming Notes release 5 client software and its server companion, Domino release 5.

As it faces increasing hype from archrival Microsoft and tries to grow the add-on and consulting markets for Notes, Lotus wants to expand the way people think of Notes and Domino. In addition to handling e-mail, groupware, and Web server features, Notes release 5 will help companies master %dquotknowledge management,%dquot Papows says. That%squots a groaner of a buzzword, but the bottom line is Lotus%squots focus on helping people create, find, and share information that hides in company databases, e-mail in-boxes, intranets, and Web pages. The company is also working on sophisticated search, chat, and whiteboarding features.

For example, Notes search features will help you locate others in your company with a particular skill, or find any documents relating to a topic--whether the documents sit in your e-mail in-box, Notes databases, intranet, or specific Web pages, Lotus says. There will also be new tools for building custom applications.

The Notes release 5 client software is scheduled to go into public beta test next quarter and ship in the second half of 1998. Domino release 5 will also ship at that time. At Lotusphere the company demonstrated notable improvements:

• A Navigator bar on the left of the screen bundles portfolios of related messages, appointments, Web page links, and discussion links.
• An opening Headlines page, which has the look of a Web browser, displays important e-mail, calendar, links to databases, and Web links; this looks to be a major convenience.
• Browser-style navigation buttons such as back, forward, and reload let you quickly switch between elements.
• Java applets run inside the Notes client.
• HTML pages are rendered inside the Notes client.
• The spelling checker is automatic.
• E-mail filtering has been improved.

The company also revealed that cc:Mail will soon go the way of the dinosaur: Lotus aims to move all cc:Mail users to Notes release 5. Lotus will continue to support the program, but the current version, 8.1, will be the last major cc:Mail release. Lotus will bundle the group scheduling features of Lotus Organizer GS into Notes release 5.

Remember that program called Lotus 1-2-3? The next version of Lotus SmartSuite, which is scheduled to ship in the first half of 1998, was mentioned only briefly. Interesting features in that new suite will include ViaVoice integration with 1-2-3 (Word Pro already offers this); HTML file compatibility within the applications; and new features for Web integration and Java applets.