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Screen Capture tool no longer available as of Notes 8.5.3 to Sametime Entry users

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I just LOVE to try all the new stuff that gets added to each maintenance release of Lotus Notes. It makes me feel like a kid opening Christmas presents. I savour and enjoy each one of them. And I appreciate the effort that the IBM put into improving their product and listening to the feedback from their customers. I really do. But I also hate when I discover that some things that were available in previous versions are no longer working properly, or worse, have been removed purposely without any notice or fair justification. Especially when it is something as useful  as the Screen Capture tool built into the Sametime Contacts pane in the Sidebar, which I was using practically every day, I was very disappointed to find out that after upgrading my Notes client to the latest 8.5.3, this tool is no longer available to Sametime Entry users. The icon for it is now greyed out, just like the icons for sending files, sending broadcasts, inviting to a meeting room, and inviting to instant meeting (which they were from the beginning).

A picture named M2
Fig. 1 Sorry to say this, but this screen capture was taken using Microsoft Windows 7 Snipping Tool.

Yes, I know. If we get the full version of Sametime, I can continue to enjoy this wonderful feature. But we are not getting it. It's something beyond my control, which just adds to my desperation. We have been using Sametime Entry ever since it was released and bundled/integrated with the Notes client. That is since the release 6.5 in 2003. For eight years the Screen Capture tool was there and available to the Sametime Entry users like me. Not anymore.

I contacted IBM Tech Support to get an official answer on this back  in November, although I suspected I knew what the answer will be. Sadly, I wasn't wrong.

IBM: "I got a response from dev about a similar PMR, and unfortunately the change is most likely fixing a "bug" where the screenshot button was not greyed out in situations when it was supposed to be."

Me: "I will be honest with you and tell you that this makes some of us here very upset. I was fearing this scenario, and it seems like it came through... I think that it is a really bad move on behalf of IBM that you effectively take away something that has been made available for many years! It does not matter that this tool was made available to Sametime Entry users unintentionally, you should not make the users to pay the price for IBM developers' mistake. If the goal was to alienate many loyal long-time users and supporters of Lotus Notes like me, then MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! But is it really what IBM-Lotus needs these days? "

IBM: "I understand your frustration, and I will pass your comments along to my manager. Thank you for using IBM Lotus Support."

Sorry for being so negative, but things like this really get to me. There. I got it off my chest. Now, let's focus on something positive, like Lotusphere 2012 and the announcements that will surely come with it. Can't wait! I'll be there...

Comments

Gravatar Image3 - i need your help. i've got problems with all the screen capture on lotus note on blackberry. the situation is i've got 3 emails that have 3 diff screen capture but after i've got the 3rd email, all of the picture from previous email change to the 3rd picture. can you help me?

Gravatar Image2 - Dear Frak,

Found your link when searching for the basic installtion setup for Sametime 8.5.2 and like what you are saying and what you publish. Found and looked at your Lotus Notes Best Kept Secrets, Part 1 and can hardly wait for Part II and the following ones. I am a Lotus Notes admirer and go back to ccMail. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to really digg thus typically search the Interenet to find. My today's quest was to find a clear set of instructions to connect a BB to Lotus Notes Domino via IMAP because I am using a Relay host for SMTP thus wasn't sure if that would create problems.

Keep up the good work and good luck!

Wolfgang

Gravatar Image1 - Have they also dropped the ability to connect to multiple sametime communities ?

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