ND8 progress

June 27 2007

It seems like an hour can't go by without someone asking me, when are Lotus Notes and Domino 8 going to ship?  Perhaps because of the release of Lotus Quickr and Lotus Connections, perhaps because we're coming up on the mid-point of 2007, perhaps because people are simply excited...the question pops up on my screen a lot these days.

Things are looking good and keeping to the internal schedule.  Still, I can't answer for you yet.  Sorry.
Image:ND8 progress

But here are two clues for the moment.

1) The Notes/Domino 8 launch event is scheduled for September 18, 2007.  It will be part of a series of "Lotus Collaboration Summit" events around the world in the second half of this year.  The Lotus Collaboration Summit events start out online on lotus.com/lctyonline, now.  There will be many regional launch events for ND8, such as the German event I mentioned last week.

2) I downloaded a new Notes 8 build today.  It's going into virgin territory -- I've just updated to a new Thinkpad T60 (has it been three years for my T41p already?  Why, yes it has!), and this will be the first build I install on that machine.  So what makes today's download special?  It is the first build being considered as a go/no-go for release, which makes it a "release candidate" of sorts.

As you know, IBM has focused a lot of effort in the recent Notes/Domino releases to shipping a high-quality product.  Publishing an arbitrary date doesn't help any of us.  The management team, development leaders, QE staff, and all the other project contributors know we only get one chance to get this right.  So hang tight, we're just-about there.

Ed Brill Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Notes and Domino 8  Add/View Comments [23]

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  1. 1  Colin  | 6/27/2007 2:25:54 PM

    Your trust in us means a lot!

  1. 2  Roberto Boccadoro  | 6/27/2007 3:37:53 PM

    How to pick the ND8 ship date :-)

    choose a number between 1 and 31

    choose a number between 6 and 9

    choose a number between 2007 and 2007

    place your bets, but don't play this game with us, that would be unfair for you :-)

  1. 3  Bill Geimer  | 6/27/2007 4:04:26 PM

    6 & 9 do not have a 31, but 7 & 8 do, which makes its sort of a 50 - 50 guess. Sort of late to use 6 for much anyhow, which makes it better for 31, statically speaking.

    I am just hoping to find out which view "view 178298" is before the next release comes out. It keeps all of the utilities from running against my mail file successfully and seems to be my main issue with getting the beta up in the AM. As the Prisoner said, "I am not a number, I am a free view", sort of.

  1. 4  Roberto Boccadoro  | 6/27/2007 4:20:58 PM

    @3 Don't try to read too much in what I wrote. Though I have a math degree I did not bother to make the post precise. Let's say you can exclude June 31 and Sept 31, but that's all.

    RoB

  1. 5  Ian Randall  | 6/27/2007 6:14:18 PM

    With so many significant changes to the Notes platform being introduced, we appreciate the difficulty that Lotus is facing.

    Better a small delay than a buggy .0 release. But on the bright side a small delay might increase the chances of Quickr Personal Edition being bundled with the Notes 8 licence.

    Thanks Ed for your candor and courage to address this topic.

    @4, Roberto, as an ex accountant, I always found June 31 to be very handy for the rush of last minute financial year transactions.

    Ian

  1. 6  Keith Brooks http://kbmsg.blogspot.com | 6/27/2007 7:12:58 PM

    Ian and Roberto, of course the more popular answer would be Dec 32nd :-) or my personal favorite, Feb 30th(my birthday is in Feb).

  1. 7  Ralf M Petter  | 6/28/2007 1:15:33 AM

    Please do everything possible to do this release right. I would prefer to publish at least one public release candidate So IBM will get feedback from the community wether there are any show stopper bugs in the release.

    Ralf

  1. 8  GarryL  | 6/28/2007 6:48:49 AM

    "But on the bright side a small delay might increase the chances of Quickr Personal Edition being bundled with the Notes 8 licence."

    I thought that it was already a bundled application?

  1. 9  Kevin Mort  | 6/28/2007 7:04:04 AM

    @8 My understanding was that Personal Edition was a freebie but I can't say I have seen where it was supposed to be bundled.

    My main license concern with Notes 8 is that we get the "bundled" Sametime license again like we have had in the past. Unfortunately I am told that Notes 7 with ST 7.5 is not allowed for some reason so we have some customers out there who are interested in what the upgrade could bring.

    K.

  1. 10  Stuart McIntyre http://quickrblog.com | 6/28/2007 7:18:17 AM

    @8 As I understand it, Quickr Personal Edition will be available at no additional charge to those customers with Notes/Domino under maintenance. However it will not be available until ND8.0.1 due in early 2008.

    @9 Could you elaborate on what your concern is? The integration of Sametime in Notes8 is much improved over Notes7, but is still more limited than if you had a full Sametime 7.5 licence. This seems fair to me...

  1. 11  Charles Robinson http://cubert-codepoet.blogspot.com | 6/28/2007 7:48:42 AM

    @9/10 - There are two versions of the Sametime server: Enterprise and Limited Use. Currently there is no Sametime 7.5.x Limited Use, which is why you can't use the Sametime entitlement with Notes 7 against a Sametime 7.5.x server.

    According to Adam Gartenberg { Link } , the Sametime product manager, a Sametime 7.5.x Limited Use server will be released that can be used with Notes and Domino 8. This was clarified { Link } back in December (starting at comment 60). For those that don't want to wade through that discussion, the relevant bit is: "...we will definitely have a Sametime 7.5 limited use server to go along with the enhanced embedded IM capabilities coming in Hannover."

  1. 12  Kevin Mort  | 6/28/2007 9:30:10 AM

    @11 - Thanks for the information.

    The big "uh oh" on that was that they never changed the license agreement but put a statement in a buried FAQ saying you aren't entitled to 7.5 within a Notes 7 client. I'll have to find the link again.

    Should have been handled differently IMO. By the by, the "limited use" server in my experience was no different code wise than the standard server. It was all a matter of what you are licensed and thus entitled to use.

    K.

  1. 13  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 6/28/2007 10:09:27 AM

    Kevin,

    A Notes user is not entitled to a Sametime -client- through the inclusion of instant messaging since 6.5.1. Never has been -- the actual Sametime connect stand-alone client has always been exclusively part of the Sametime license. So I don't think there was any change needed in a license agreement.

    The server is a different piece of the equation. As Adam explained, the Sametime 7.5 server had only some incremental benefits for those using instant messaging exclusively inside the Notes 6.5/7 client, and there was no initial expectation that such users would want to upgrade to the Sametime 7.5 server. Thus, the reactive answer prompted by Charles (and others) asking.

  1. 14  Kevin Mort  | 6/28/2007 1:29:13 PM

    Ed,

    Perhaps I wasn't clear. The situation I mention was regarding the integrated IM & presence in Notes only.

    The use of this integrated function was (and still is) an entitlement for the customer depending on what Notes license they purchase. For example Notes with Collaboration.

    K.

  1. 15  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 6/28/2007 1:31:08 PM

    @14 Kevin, that's right, it was and is. But it isn't an entitlement to use the separate Sametime Connect client.

  1. 16  Kevin Mort  | 6/28/2007 1:43:26 PM

    @14 Exactly. That part is understood. Did I say otherwise? I didn't think I did...but if so...sorry for the confusion.

    The real issue was what version of the ST server they were entitled to via their Notes 7 license. The license doc does not specify, but that FAQ does. It becomes a question of which document rules? The license or an FAQ? ; )

    Seems like the answer is... it depends.

    K.

  1. 17  Charles Robinson http://cubert-codepoet.blogspot.com | 6/28/2007 4:08:40 PM

    @16 - Actually it comes down to "which one is on Passport Advantage". I can't download Sametime 7.5.x Limited Use since it doesn't exist. That pretty much answers the question of which version to use with Notes 7.x. :)

  1. 18  David Russell  | 6/29/2007 8:40:06 AM

    September 18th is my birthday, the same date as this launch event. Even before I came into being, it was decided I was to be a Notes Master.

  1. 19  Sean Burgess http://www.phigsaidwhat.com/ | 6/29/2007 3:06:15 PM

    So I just heard from someone at Lotus that the ship date for ND8 is in August? Can this be true? Care to comment on that Ed?

  1. 20  Nathan T. Freeman http://nathan.lotus911.com | 6/29/2007 3:13:09 PM

    Whoa... August!??!?!

    SCHAWEET!

    I hope it's true! Would love to have it before my birthday!

  1. 21  Sean Burgess http://www.phigsaidwhat.com/ | 6/29/2007 3:17:05 PM

    @20 I knew there was a reason we got along so well. The 16th is mine.

  1. 22  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 6/29/2007 3:22:27 PM

    well, my birthday is August 6, as so many blog readers know from the prior years where -way too big a deal- was made of it.

    But anyway, Sean, wow, that was fast. We announced the August ship date internally to a group of IBMers today... and didn't include the usual "not yet for public consumption". So, someone consumed. Yes, the ship date is in August, 2007.

    I'll have to leave y'all guessing as to when in August, as I still have not disclosed when my vacation begins :-D

  1. 23  Sean Burgess http://www.phigsaidwhat.com/ | 6/29/2007 3:34:04 PM

    Woo Hoo!!!!!