Macworld Announcements (Notes 8.5 is Ready!)
Category Macintosh Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5 SymphonyBookmark :
It was first Macworld Expo keynote since 1997 not delivered by Steve Jobs, his absence caused by his health concerns. No new gadgets were unveiled this time, no preview of the Snow Leopard or iPhone Nano (contrary to the pre-conference speculations). Instead, new pricing for iTunes, iWork and iLife software suites, and MacBook Pro laptop were announced.
But what got my attention, came from IBM, not Apple. IBM used this opportunity to announce the release of Lotus Notes 8.5 which for the first time is available for both Windows, as well as Macintosh and Linux at the same time. The last Notes client available for Macintosh was 7.0.x. There wasn't any in the 8.0.x code stream. Also, the Mac client (if/once available) was never as good as the Windows counterpart.
Notes 8.5 for Mac requires a machine with the Intel chip and Mac OS X Leopard, (specifically 10.5.5 or alter). It has been said that it will have all the bells and whistles of the Windows version.
IBM also announced iNotes 8.5 (formerly Domino Web Access aka DWA, formerly iNotes...), which allows anyone with a Notes account to access their mailbox on a Domino server through a browser from any computer connected to the Internet. This time Safari browser is also supported in addition to Firefox on Macintosh. (Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.13 or Safari 3.1.x). Unfortunatelly, iNotes on a Macintosh does not support, local archiving, and Lotus Sametime awareness, features that are available in iNotes 8.5 on Windows Platform.
In addition, Symphony 1.2.1, which includes the first Mac OS X version of Symphony (IBM's free office productivity suite that includes a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software), is expected to be available before Lotusphere (Jan 19).
Additional Info:
CNN.com: Subdued reactions to Apple's final Macworld keynote
IBM: IBM Press Release
