Before leaving for vacation, I had the chance to attend an IBM event all about Sametime. Two years ago, during Lotusphere a colleague of mine said (after seeing a similar demo): “you know, I can see a world where internal email almost entirely goes away - everything is based in Sametime, Activities, Quickr or some combination - we simply… collaborate, anywhere on any device.”

I have to admit: I see it too!

First, let’s review what Sametime has to offer. — Wait, better idea: let’s review what it DOESN’T have to offer. The answer: not much. Its really a very complete tool. The only thing I’d like to see (of course) is iPhone support - but that IS (at least at the moment) Apple’s hold up. By their own admission, they’re working on a way to improve an IM-type application so it doesn’t have to stay in memory the same way others do today.

For a more complete list of what Sametime has to offer, check out the graphic. It’ll do a much better job than I did in the paragraph above.

Here’s what else I love about Sametime - its one product that really does have the same experience on Macs. We’ve been hearing about Eclipse for a while now and Sametime is where it really is clear why IBM is committed to that. My Sametime client on my Mac (pictured) is nearly identical to its Windows counterpart.

Normally, when I say that, its followed by an “except that it doesn’t have…” but with Sametime, I’ve got none of that! I can even integrate side-shelf applications into the Mac Sametime client. Shown in the graphic is my Cisco Voicemail application.

I shouldn’t need to explain to anyone how powerful it is to have one utility that shows all of my contacts, their contact information, their picture, their on-line or meeting status, my voicemail and lots of other tools all in one easy, intuitive application.

Nice work, Lotus! I’m anxious to see what’s next because this application is so complete - its almost hard to envision room for improvement!

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With the thought “actions speak louder than words” in mind, I’m not going to talk (again) about how disappointing it is that IBM/Lotus doesn’t have an announcement about a product that would make the iPhone and Domino work as well together as the demos of the iPhone and Exchange appear to work. I’m not going to comment on how frustrating it is to watch IBM/Lotus bloggers tell people to contact Apple and request the functionality. Instead, I’m going to tell you what we are actually doing:

This month, an Exchange server will go live in our organization. It will be connected to Domino to allow us to deliver iPhone services to our corporate users. We have a number of iPhones requested from our user community and more are sure to come.

Since we plan to have an Exchange server, we’ve also discussed a group of existing Domino users that could be migrated to Exchange as their mail platform. These users only use email and Exchange is a great alternative for them. This also calls into question our commitment to Domino elsewhere. Some departments, like our HR group, are moving processes into applications that are not Domino-based, allowing us to delete Domino databases and prompting the question: why continue to use Notes as their email client? This becomes an even more interesting question when you factor in the UI similarities between Outlook and Notes 8.x - especially since Notes 8.x requires so much more system resource that we’ve decided to not move to it for the time being.

Having an Exchange server in the mix also opens up other possibilities, like further integration with our Cisco VoIP system, integration with some of our manufacturing equipment & systems and even prompted some discussion on evaluating SharePoint instead of Quickr (which we’re now doing).

All of this has been a very natural series of events for us, and I doubt its far from over. At the end of the day, Apple has done a great job of convincing the business world that the iPhone is a product everyone should carry with them - and the lack of integrating with our existing Domino environment (with the same ease and functionality as demoed with Exchange) means our IT team needs to look elsewhere for a solution.

Dark side, here we come.

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Wait a second, I need to make sure that title makes sense… yeah, that’ll work.

I’ve been talking about my struggles with the Mac Notes 8.5 beta for some time and then I got quiet about it. I’ll admit now that I just stopped opening it and went into Paradows (Parallels + Windows) for all my Notes client needs.

But then I started to run into odd things with the Notes 8.0.1 client running a current mail template as well. First, it was slow… especially using the Outlook preview pane layout. Second, there were a number of odd behaviors, like deleting a message in the inbox and watching the highlighted message jump to the top of the list instead of the message just before the one you deleted.

So I downgraded. I went back to my Mac 7.x client and continued to run the 8.0.1  mail file. That actually worked quite nicely, until I worked off my local replica and noticed lots of inconsistencies between read/unread marks. There were a few other minor tweaks as well, so I restored my mail file back to the 7.0.3 template.

For the first time ever… this downgrade feels like an upgrade. I’ve never been so excited to go back to the way something was even though I know I’m missing out on new features, UI, etc.

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Wow. Long title.

Since day 3 of Lotusphere 2008, I’ve been running the Notes 8.5 Mac client beta. Its really nice to have the “8″ experience on my Mac without starting Windows, but it is very much a beta client. There are a number of odd bugs (most of which hover around the Sametime integration for some reason). And my favorite is that when it crashes you get an eclipse error message… that can’t easily be closed. It runs off the bottom of my monitor and there isn’t a “quit” option in my menu. Hmm… maybe if I had that 30″ Apple Cinema display?!

The 8.5beta experience takes a dramatic turn for the worse when you connect to an 8.0.1 server running a current version of your mail file. In short: Notes becomes unusable. The amount of bugs and extremely slow performance means you just can’t get anything done in the client.

So… for the last week, I’ve been spending A LOT of time back in “Paradows.” (Parallels+Windows — can I do that? Can I start a “thing” there?)

The 8.0.1 client is much better and I really like the new UI. I’m still not crazy about the speed. It really seems to be noticeably slower and I worry if our user community will tolerate that in exchange for stuff that’s new. What’s more, there’s just something … wrong with telling them that a benefit is the Exchange-esque 3-pane vertical arrangement of their mail.

But the single most annoying thing thus far is the lack of the selection gutter in my mail and calendar. I’ve always thought that the ability to “check” a bunch of documents easily without using “control” or “shift” keys in the process was an awesome idea that made Notes unique … and now its gone!

That problem is amplified by the fact that, today, the only way I can sync my Notes & iPhone calendar is by selecting multiple calendar entries in Notes and exporting them to an iCal file. Its quite hard to do that in 8.x.

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I’ve now been using the Notes beta 8.5 client for the Mac for one week at the office (I took a week after Lotusphere to stay in Disney for vacation … after all, one of my other websites is Disney related). After one week of normal use, I have some thoughts (again, I’m keeping in mind that this IS a beta product and I have tried to participate in the forum to be helpful with my comments):

• The program icon for Notes doesn’t bounce in the dock when loading, which is only annoying because there have been some times when I can’t get it to start at all.
• When loaded, Notes has a 2nd icon that shows the number of unread messages: AWESOME!
• When loaded, Notes has an icon at the top of your menu bar (by the Mac clock) when new messages arrive: AWESOME.
• There’s also an icon for your Sametime status up there: very cool!
• The side-bar shelf calendar thing ROCKS! I didn’t realize how handy this was … and now I want MANY more side shelf options - which I hear are coming at some point.
• I crave Symphony - especially since I’m seriously considering uninstalling my brand new Microsoft Office 2008 … blagh!
• If you try to have a VoIP call with someone in your sametime list, nothing will happen. Until you close your IM window and they decide to open one with you again … you’ll then hear the most annoying sound ever come from your Mac. Try it, its fun. (You’ll have to reboot to get it to stop … or ask the person to never IM you again. Your choice.)
• Trying to chat with someone from in your Notes Sametime list doesn’t always work. I’m not sure why.
• The Java/Eclipse/Notes combo doesn’t seem to take up as many resources as I once thought. However, it seems to be just as flaky-feeling as I thought. I realize that’s hard to quantify, but its my perception.

All that being said, I’m still on a high from the ID105 session at Lotusphere about all the new Mac stuff coming soon. I just need to work on being patient. Which I don’t do well at all.

Meanwhile, in the week since I’ve been back, two people at my company have requested Mac’s. One in IT and our CEO. That’s awesome and I really think both are going to enjoy using a Mac and feel like they get more done (and more easily). However, for both of those people (and the existing Mac users) I really think that they’re best off with Notes 7.0.3 even though the rest of the company will be on Notes 8 before too long.

Again … its beta, I get it.

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Holy crap, I’m running Notes 8.5 (beta) on my Mac.

This is impressive in many ways, but I’ll focus on two for the moment:

1. I was able to complete the download while at the conference - I’m convinced the internet works differently down here.
2. I was brave (or silly) enough to do the upgrade while off-site, at a conference.

So far, it really is impressive. It works just as well as the version of 8 I’ve (sort of) played around with in Windows. I finally feel like my Mac’s version of Notes is current (and HOW current it is - considering its the 8.5 beta!)

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From Lotusphere 2008…

This was the single session I was most excited to attend at Lotusphere this year. The session was well attended by an always passionate group of Mac users. However, this year it seemed to also include people that need to start supporting the increase in Mac interest they are seeing in their company.

The big focus here was on the Mac 8.5 beta that is now available. Other major items from the session included:

• Symphony is in a pre-beta build but will be available ~2H of 2008
• The delay in 8.0.1 for the Mac was due largely to the delay of Leopard. The team chose to focus on 8.5 instead (which explains why you can get your hands on that beta version but not the upcoming release of 8.0.1 that will go to Windows in Feb.)
• Domino Web Access (DWA) works well with Firefox and the team is committed to better support in Safari 3.0.
• Sametime 8.0 supports video. In the second half of 2008, it will also support web conferencing.
• Quickr (web) works today. Support for plug-ins is to be determined (but the group applauded loudly on the suggestion that Quickr plug-ins should be a high priority).

The session wrapped with a nice demo of the Notes 8.5 client in the Mac. In short, it looks and acts just like it’s Windows counterpart. The team is also focused on making it more Mac-esque through things like Command function support and default mail app selection ability (making Notes your default mail program).

Finally, there was one question (and some applause to it) about if Lotus will port the Domino server to run natively on the Mac Leopard XServe server. The answer was “no” with the added comment that Lotus isn’t sure how much demand there is for that. — An arguement I’ve heard over and over again.

As someone who manages an IT department with data centers world-wide, I can honestly say that the ability to run Domino on the Leopard server would be HUGE. It would reduce licensing costs (Windows CALs), improve management ability (you can manage the Apple OS via their tools, which are easy and powerful, especially for remote site management), and I would assume that there would be a performance and stability improvement considering how solid the Mac server O/S remains.

Clearly there’s a need to define the value proposition and strategy behind why Lotus should focus on this concept. Call me, I’ll help.

All in all, I felt this was a great session that hit dead-on with the needs of Mac users in the business. There is still much desire in the community for even more (we want it now, we also want the Designer and Admin clients, we want better support for the iPhone, etc.). But it was the first time I can ever remember that IBM/Lotus really made a statement even close to: “we are committed to supporting the Mac - and not as a secondary O/S that we wish we didn’t have to pay attention to.”

That attitude has clearly started to change and the proof is available now as a download!

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Much to my surprise, Lotus announced the availability of an 8.5 beta for the Mac. I would have it downloaded by now if it wasn’t for an issue with my internet connection in my hotel room and my inability to get my new AT&T 3G card to work properly. However, if you’re not as “internet challenged” as I am (and, if you have a Mac), then maybe you’d like the link to the beta.

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I’ve just left the 2008 Lotusphere Opening General Session (2nd session). I have to say that this was the most exciting start to a Lotusphere I’ve ever seen. The Orlando Symphony Orchestra played some great songs while the screens all around featured a theme of “from individual actions, larger patterns emerge.”

As everyone sat down, there was a playbill on our seats that described the “symphony” we were all about to see. It talked about a symphony in three movements:

1. From individual actions, larger patterns emerge
2. A myriad of possibility
3. It all works together

A this point, I was pretty dang impressed. This appeared to be the cohesive direction I’ve wanted Lotus to have for years. It looked like the start of a synchronized marketing campaign that would end the day showing me how all these applications worked seamlessly together.

And for the most part, that’s exactly what they did. The OGS whipped through the entire line of Lotus products and did a good job of showing how they all integrate together. I think the concept could have been a bit tighter - the playbill suggested they would be a bit more explicit about walking through those concepts as they talked about each application. It was left to each attendee to figure out the tie to those concepts themselves … which is fine.

Other interesting topics (random):

• Notes and SAP have an application that allows you to access SAP via Notes (which would be cool, if we used SAP)
• Notes 8.5 is coming out … sometime … this year.
• Notes 8.0.1 is coming out … sometime … this year … before 8.5.
• A Mac version of 8.5 will come out after its released for every other O/S under the planet … but the beta is available now (guess what I’m doing tonight!)
• Sametime is focusing on becoming the core of your telephony infrastructure. It promises to work with a mix of PBX and VoIP vendors without extensive rip-n-replace. The demos looks promising. Of course, no costs or ETAs were discussed.
• Domino Web Access is getting redone to look like Notes 8 (which is brilliant - I never understood why it looked different). DWA also gets a light and super-light mode, the latter will work on the iPhone (but that means you have to connect to the web and log in to get stuff on your iPhone, not quite the integrated solution I had hoped for).
• Lots of performance improvements on the road for 8.X
• Symphony will integrate with lots of Notes stuff - I’m anxious to go to some sessions and find out exactly what that means; but its nice to hear they are talking about doing that!
• Quickr 8.1 will come out in March. A demo was then done of a future version of Quickr (so, apparently 8.1, which isn’t out yet, isn’t the “future”)
• Lots of people started to leave the room when they began talking about Websphere Portal. Even more left when they started to talk about Lotus Connections. — I always find that to be an interesting indicator of what people are curious/interested in.

Lots of other updates, but those are my main thoughts thus far…

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I decided that its time for me to try VMware’s version of a Mac virtual environment. I’ve been using Parallels, which I love, but an odd networking bug has finally gotten on  my nerves enough to do something about it. Rather than reload Parallels, I’m trying VMware.

The other thing I’m trying is not having Microsoft Office in my Windows environment … for the first time ever. I’m going to rely completely on the IBM Lotus Symphony product.  In theory, this should allow me to do everything I needed Word, Excel and PowerPoint for before.

I’m committed to giving this my all. I just hope I don’t realize later that I should have been committed for trying this.

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