Lotus has unveiled its latest client interfaces for its Domino messaging and groupware server, allowing users to access mail, calendaring and other Domino applications through Microsoft`s Outlook or through a Web browser.
The interface to Microsoft`s Outlook - iNotes Access - is 15MB to 20MB big, and was developed in conjunction with Microsoft`s Office development team. The product comes with a tool for "no-touch" installation of the conversion utility, which can be distributed to users over e-mail.
The product does not support all Outlook features - the voting button is one feature that Lotus decided to drop due to client disinterest. Some messages may lose formatting, but Lotus describes this as "very minor".
Lotus hopes that the iNotes Access product will encourage organisations to migrate to Domino from Microsoft`s Exchange platform without having to re-educate the users on Lotus Notes.
iNotes Web Access accesses the Domino server through a Web browser, allowing both online and offline functionality. This product is designed for thin-client and mobile users migrating to Domino, and boasts a 400k applet footprint, which includes a spell check, to-do list, calendaring, contracts and out-of-office notification.
The features are very similar to the Beta version of iNotes that Lotus demonstrated late last year, although it has dropped the frames in the Web product in preference of full screen refreshes, which it says improves performance.
The company is also working on a product called GEM (Good Enough Mail), which will allow HTML-only access to the Domino server for even thinner clients.
"Our client strategy is very simple: to access Domino from any device, anywhere," says Lesego Tlhabanelo, product manager, Lotus South Africa.
Lotus`s parent company, IBM, has built an IBM eServer iSeries box dedicated to Domino, with a copper and silicon-on-insulator processor tweaked for Domino. Enhancements to the OS/400 operating system include new logical partitioning capabilities to improve multiple language and time zone support for Domino.
The iSeries Dedicates Server for Domino can be identified by the yellow strip running along the front of the box.
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