IBM releases Lotus Notes and Domino 8

Cambridge (MA) - After two years of development and testing, IBM has decided its collaboration software is ready to go. August 17th marks the date Lotus Notes 8 and Domino 8 officially hit the market. With an eye on the Internet and collaboration, this "more than email" application is seen by IBM as the next "killer app".

Serving as a fully integrated solution, Lotus Notes 8 is a client software designed to carry out traditional email functions and extensions to that functionality. It has several new built-in abilities, which promise to make normal email navigation much easier and faster. These include the ability to drag entire email threads from the inbox to other folders with one operation. Also included is a side panel which is based on the open-source Eclipse technology, called Lotus Expeditor. This panel comes with some new built-in abilities, but the big feature is that any Eclipse based plug-in can be integrated.

Included in the default install are an integrated chat/IM as well as a Google map for whatever email contact is highlighted in the inbox or another folder, a custom application launcher and a "day at a glance" calendar function. It also has an enhanced search function which includes an integrated Google search within the app. It can search the desktop, local files or the Internet without using a browser. All menus and button bars are context relative and programmable. Lotus Notes also includes a fully embedded set of open document editors which reads all OpenOffice formats, WordPro and Microsoft Office formats.

Domino 8 is a server-side collaboration software which,according to IBM, can "help people effectively share and manage information, make business decisions quickly, and streamline the way they work."

Lotus Notes and Domino 8 are available on several platforms, including Linux, Windows, Solaris, AIX and IBM System i for servers. There’s also a video on YouTube which allows users to see the system before buying it.

Lotus Notes 8 has a suggested retail price of $101 per client. Domino Web Access clients are $73 per user. IBM Lotus Domino server software starts at a SRP of $14.75 per value unit.