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Overview

Lotus Notes is an innovative and integrated e-mail and document collaboration client for the Internet. This latest release of Notes has been enhanced in a number of ways. Perhaps most significantly, it has been transformed into an easier-to-use environment that is customizable and easily personalized, so you can work the way you want to while retaining all the power of Notes. You will find that the user experience in Notes R5 is like using a simple Web browser that allows you to group links to Web pages, news group discussions, and Notes documents all in one location.

In R5, the power of Notes is combined with the ease of the Internet, with enhancements built on features from previous releases such as Portfolios in Notes R4.6. Notes R5 combines Internet-standards support with the features of other Lotus products like cc:Mail and Organizer in a single, integrated state-of-the-art e-mail, calendar, group scheduling, and Web information management tool. All of this is offered without the requirement of a Domino-based infrastructure. These enhancements are reflected in our design goals for Notes R5:

• Works with any server
• Easiest Internet client to use
• Industry-leading applications
• Mobile support and ease of deployment
• Innovation in collaboration -- knowledge management

Notes R5 offers full standards support of protocols (Mail: POP3, IMAP4, SMTP; Discussion: NNTP; Directory: LDAP v3) and content (MIME, S/MIME, HTML, Native image formats, Java, JavaScript, X.509 certificates). This means that users with ISP-hosted mail accounts can use Notes R5 to send, receive, and manage their Internet mail. Notes R5 can also access other Web servers, for full-fidelity access to intranet or Web applications.

When you launch Notes R5 for the first time, you are asked whether or not you want to use Notes to access your ISP-hosted mail. Notes acquires as much information as it can from the operating environment to set up your client for access to that mail account. Multiple accounts can be set within one location so that multiple mail accounts can be securely handled without changing Notes locations. With a universal inbox and support for native Web formats, Internet mail content has full fidelity.

Features include:

• POP3 and IMAP4 support -- Since R4.6, Notes has been a POP3 client. Notes R5 is also a full-function IMAP4 client. POP3 mail can be pulled directly into the user's mail file. IMAP support is managed through a separate mail template and an IMAP account document in the Personal Address Book.
• Native MIME support -- MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) is the standard message format for Internet mail. This IETF-standard specification describes the format and rules for constructing messages that contain one or more parts. For example, MIME allows you to send a mail item that could include one or more graphical images. The MIME specifications implemented by R5 include all of the base MIME specs and many of the extensions. R5 supports, for example, an HTML-based editor for generating rich mail content. HTML pages can have complex content such as interrelated URLs. No conversion is required and users maintain full message fidelity. By implementing this standard, R5 Notes delivers the richest highest fidelity Internet mail content possible.
• S/MIME support -- For years, Notes has delivered a superior Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) very much like that provided by S/MIME security. Thus S/MIME extends Notes' native security to include secure messaging to non-Notes mail recipients.
• Fully-integrated X.509 certificates -- X.509 is the open-standard certificate format for inter-application authentication. Notes users can now take advantage of either the traditional Notes certificates or X.509 v3 certificates.
• LDAP support -- The Notes client has full support for LDAP. Any address lookup can be done using LDAP so a user can address e-mail using any of the external, public LDAP directories. In addition, local address books can be accessed via LDAP queries.
• Native address support -- In Notes R5, standards-based Internet addresses are treated as a parallel native address form. This means that Notes R5 users can address mail using either the Internet address format and/or the Notes hierarchical address format, and that both the Internet and Notes hierarchical address of senders and recipients is included in an R5 mail message.

Our goal for Notes R5 was to create an environment that increases productivity by providing one consistent environment for access to all of the sources of information you need to do your job. Unlike some competing products, Notes R5 is not a bundle of products; it stands alone as we deliver the tightest-integrated Internet client in the industry, enabling customers to benefit from the combination of the best features in one seamless, easy-to-use mail, calendar, and Web client.

The key new productivity features in R5 include:

• The Welcome page -- Notes R5 introduces the concept of a Welcome page -- the first page you see when you start the client. The default welcome page for the client is a basic page that has a simple, easy-to-learn user interface to allow users to access mail, a calendar, and their personal contacts. You can change the Welcome page to one of the styles that is provided by the client, or you can customize your own Welcome page. One type of Welcome page is called a headlines page.
• The Headlines page -- This provides a user-customizable environment to navigate, filter, access and act on information, regardless of where that information originates: your inbox, a Web site, or a newsgroup. For example, you may filter all e-mail from your manager, monitor competitors' Web sites, and view a list of important meetings and urgent tasks for the day, all from the Headlines page. In addition, tracking other Web information such as stock prices or competitive sites can easily be set up and monitored right from this personalized page. Starting off your day with the right information in front of you at the right time makes you more productive from the moment you start Notes.
• Subscriptions -- The ability to monitor Domino databases for documents that match your specific criteria is an major innovation in R5. You can create any number of subscriptions to Domino databases using a simple profile form for each database. Once you've created these subscriptions, summary results are displayed in the headlines page.
• The Navigation Bar -- This contains tools very similar to the "forward" and "back" buttons to which many browser users are accustomed. Now navigating through the barrage of daily incoming information is easy with the intuitive forward and back buttons. In addition, there is a stop and refresh button (which works to refresh all applications including mail), a search button and the ability to enter a URL address to invoke Web browsing in Notes.
• Bookmark Bar with Bookmark buttons -- Using these buttons, you can access core Notes applications like mail and calendar that were previously located on the R4 Notes desktop. These new Notes R5 Bookmark buttons and folders allow you to create links to a wide variety of information -- a view of your inbox a calendar entry, a favorite Web site, or other documents -- whether they are part of a Domino application or from some other source. The Bookmark bar is set up to provide instant access to your core applications -- mail, calendar, tasks, and contacts. The folders below are places for you to add your own Bookmark links to your own information. Use the folders to store important links, or drag and drop links to information directly onto the Bookmark bar.
• Window tabs -- This way of working adds to the "Web-like" feel of the Notes R5 client and provides a much richer information management tool than simple browsers can provide. The window tabs appear as each new document, Web page, or view is opened for an additional way to navigate through information accessed from the Notes client. These window tabs have replaced the Window menu as a more intuitive way of tracking where you have been. It's easy to see what window you have previously opened and get back to it quickly by clicking on the tab. Because the tabs have text titles to let you know what it is, you can close the windows you don't want open without having them as the active window on the desktop. Just click the small "x" to the right of the tab to close that window, without losing it in your "history". Hit the "Back" button, and that window re-opens as an indicator of where you have been. Create Bookmarks by dragging any open window tab to the Bookmark bar - over a folder, or directly onto the bar itself.
• HTML editing -- With support for HTML 4, the Notes editor becomes an excellent Web content creation source. With control over things like images and tables, users can instantly create great-looking pages, in full-fidelity HTML, with support for native formats such as Animated GIFs and JPEGs.
• Enhanced table features -- An enhanced properties box provides access to all these additional controls over tables:
  
  Paragraph-like alignment
  Style templates
  "Shadow" effect
  "Stackable" tables
  Recursive tables (tables within tables)
  Tabs in tables
  Multi-column text (text flows from one column to the next)
  Table cell backgrounds
  Fixed- and variable-width columns in the same table
• Print Preview -- From the print dialog, you now have the option to preview your documents prior to printing.

Since Notes R4, we have incorporated more and more cc:Mail features into Notes. We started with folders and a three-pane interface. In Notes R5, we have greatly enhanced the overall mail experience, adding even more cc:Mail features. Most notably, the new mail application in Notes R5 includes a separate address header in messages, type-down addressing, faster type-ahead addressing, an inbox view that can display new messages at the top, and simple setup of mail rules. Combining these core pieces of functionality with the Notes document editor and standards support, e-mail in Notes R5 is as full-featured as an Internet mail client can be.

We have incorporated many of the enhanced PIM features of Lotus Organizer into the Lotus Notes calendar, scheduling, and task management functions. For example, many people who use an electronic calendar product also like to print their calendars. Comprehensive printing capabilities in Notes R5 supports multiple print styles. The addition of a group calendar view makes it easier than ever for you to stay on top of multiple schedules, and to plan your time and work so that individuals and groups are more productive.

Key new mail features include:

• Separation of message header -- Message recipients are now kept in a separate pane from the message body. Now you can scroll through the message while keeping the header information on screen. This is especially helpful when a message has many recipients.
• Type-ahead addressing -- Performance increases in Notes R5 make this feature easier to use when selecting recipients to address mail messages or initiate workflow applications.
• Type-down addressing -- As type-ahead addressing begins to match names in the address dialog, you can use the up and down arrows on your keyboard to cycle through "like" names. This feature works in conjunction with the new Mobile Directory Catalog (see below for more details).
• Mail rules -- English language syntax for developing automated tasks with multiple conditions for filtering mail automatically. Multiple actions may also be selected. These Rules are server-based to provide 24x7 processing.
• MAPI support -- Notes now registers itself as the default mail application. This allows Notes R5 messaging to be integrated within products such as MS Office and MS Internet Explorer, so that Notes is launched as the mail client from these types of applications.
• Notes Minder -- This utility loads automatically into the Windows 95/98/NT system tray and informs via flashing icon, sound, or dialog of the arrival of new items. Headers of new messages can also be checked, and Notes can be launched if desired.
• Notification of Sent view behavior -- Users are notified that messages deleted from the Sent view will be deleted from every folder as well.
• Mail preferences -- Mail preferences include: option for automatic spell check on send, delivery priority, automatic message signature and signature files, message content options (HTML only, plain text only, or both), message importance, security options, delegation options, and reply separator definition.
• Inbox sorting -- A new preference option has been added to allow users to choose to have new mail arrive at either the top or bottom of the Inbox.

• Calendar printing -- You can now print your calendar in hard-copy format, in a selection of styles that resemble those in Lotus Organizer, so that you can take your calendar with you.
• Group calendar view -- Create a calendar showing multiple colleagues' free and busy time, with the ability to see more information if you have delegation access to their calendars.
• Holiday support -- Ability to add holiday sets (geographic and/or religious) to calendar.
• Improved invitation form and invitation management -- Invitees as FYI, optional or required. Invitation delivery options such as prevent delegation, prevent counter proposal. You can receive meeting updates after declining and add comments when canceling or rescheduling
• Resource management -- Resources are an important part of how meetings are scheduled. With the ability to schedule resources across domains and greater access control for resources, you can be sure you'll have everything you need for your important meetings.
• Enhanced alarm support -- Support sound (such as .WAV files) for alarms. Alarms can now be set for tasks as well as appointments and alarms can be sent to invitees
• Owner actions and participant actions buttons -- Notes exposes all the features required when viewing an appointment from the calendar view to be able to: Send a reminder, cancel a meeting, reschedule a meeting, suggest alternate time.
• Integrated task management - To do's automatically appear on the calendar and follow you day after day. To do's can also include alarms, be marked as repeating, and marked private. Additionally, there is support for group to do's.

Notes has always offered superior off-line use. Wherever you are, you still have access to and control over a wide variety of information. With Notes R5, additional off-line capabilities mean you'll have even greater control over the information you're working with and sharing -- whether it's Internet mail or Web pages that can be updated from a site to reflect changes when you reconnect.

In addition, mobile enhancements such as the Mobile Directory Catalog -- a single database that contains all of the directories in an enterprise -- were created for the road warrior. It contains partial replica information in a compressed form, with each user entry measuring about 100 bytes in size, instead of the 10 Kb per user in earlier versions of Notes. There is enough data in this compressed "catalog" of directories to yield information about the entire directory object if needed, automatically and invisibly to the user. This new directory occupies minimal disk space, so that mobile users can easily maintain a copy on their local hard disks.

Specific features include:

• Disconnected use -- Off-line browsing and management of mail, Web pages, and News. Simplified mobile configuration and setup. Easier replica management with Bookmarks.
• Remote, connected use -- This allows you to use Notes with your existing Internet service provider.
• Mobile Directory Catalog -- Storing an optimized local copy of your enterprise directory means fast response time as you access critical information about the people in your company; whether you are connected or not, and regardless of how large your organization.
• Mobile location enhancements -- Connection documents and Dialup Networking entries are created for new users automatically as they complete the Location document dialog. We now provide end-users with a Connection Configuration Wizard to facilitate setting up Remote Access Connection documents. The Wizard can configure connections to servers on an Intranet over Dial-up Networking, to servers on the Internet, or to remote Domino servers using Notes Direct Dialup over X.PC.
• Native PDA support -- Notes R5 fully supports Personal Digital Assistants to replicate mail, contacts and calendar information.
• User input during async script execution -- Notes provide a scripting command, Promptuser, which allows Notes to pop up a password dialog box during a connection call, so that users do not have to re-dial when their passwords expire.
• Passwords hidden in Connection documents and dial dialogs -- Passwords are now hidden in the Server Connection documents and dial dialog boxes, which provides users with an additional level of security.
• Network dial-up Connection document enhancements -- Users can enter area codes, country codes, and calling card numbers in network dial-up connection documents. This leverages the extensive dialing support for network dial-up currently available for X.PC.

In Notes R5, enhancements such as the Headlines page, Bookmarks, and enhanced search capabilities are examples of the knowledge management applications that are possible with Notes and Domino. Some of the new R5 features that support analysis and discovery of important information to do your job include:

• Headlines -- Headlines does more than just filter out important e-mail. With Headlines, you can personalize the "first look" at your day and be sure you get the information that will keep you most productive throughout the day. The ability to subscribe to Domino databases is a key feature that lets users access important, timely information.
• Search engine and UI changes -- The search icon is always present on toolbar in upper right corner of the screen; the engine is the Global Text Retriever from IBM Japan. The search dialog includes many new enhancements, such as Fuzzy search.
• Full-text index of file system -- Any file system referenced by the file system configuration form (stored in the domain catalog on Domino server) can be added to the index.
• Summarization of search results -- Each document returned can have several sentences displayed describing its contents selected by a special algorithm that finds the most meaningful sentences.
• Additional file filters -- R5 indexes the entire document by using Inso filters to translate the attachments into something that can be indexed. Supported formats are Acrobat PDF, Word, WordPerfect, Word Pro, 1-2-3, Excel, Freelance, PowerPoint, and HTML.