Notes/Domino 8.5.1 available: So what do you think?

October 12 2009

Earlier today, Notes/Domino 8.5.1 became available for download.  The IBM developerWorks site will be updated later today with the new free download for Lotus Domino Designer.  There are probably a few other lingering issues to be worked out today; we also still have to publish the licensing conversion announcement (from Notes/iNotes to CALs) which will come tomorrow.

All over the blogs, I see comments on download and success on installing.  But other than a few outlier postings of atypical use cases, and some pops about Mac/Snow Leopard issues that are indeed being worked, I don't actually see any feedback!  So, what do you think of 8.5.1???

(Some blogs would call this an "open thread" -- I will be here all day participating, though :-)

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Notes and Domino 8.5  Add/View Comments [129]

Post a Comment

  1. 1  Cédric Blanchard  | 10/12/2009 8:07:30 AM

    Still not available through Passport Advantage for me ;-(

  1. 2  Michael  | 10/12/2009 8:07:59 AM

    I only c download of "Domino Server" no "Notes Domino Server…"

  1. 3  Ulrich Krause http://www.eknori.de | 10/12/2009 8:12:08 AM

    @1: From the download finder switch to the "All my downloads" view. This was how I was able to download the files. Hope this helps.

  1. 4  Jeff  | 10/12/2009 8:12:44 AM

    There is no file where the Domino Administrator is included in the name or the file description that I can find. Obviously this should be made clearer.

  1. 5  Greg Stover  | 10/12/2009 8:13:19 AM

    I do not see the "All Clients" code on Passport. Is ther ea part number I can search for?

  1. 6  Dennis van Remortel http://www.d2k.nl/domino | 10/12/2009 8:14:11 AM

    Try Ulrich's tip, that worked for me too.

    Ed: I like the speed of the designer client! But it took me and one of my colleagues more then an hour to do an over the top install....

  1. 7  Ulrich Krause http://www.eknori.de | 10/12/2009 8:15:08 AM

    @5: lotus_dominodesigner_w32_CZ5S0EN contains all files

  1. 8  Dennis van Remortel http://www.d2k.nl/domino | 10/12/2009 8:16:08 AM

    @4: you need to install the *shiver* designer client to have the possibility to install the admin client.

    You can disable the designer luckily ;)

  1. 9  Cédric Blanchard  | 10/12/2009 8:17:56 AM

    @3: Thanks for the tip ;-)

  1. 10  Ben Rose  | 10/12/2009 8:24:25 AM

    Been without my main Notes client for over 2hrs now after I tried to upgrade from 8.5 FP1 and now get an error every time I try and use it.

    Seems a fairly common error ( { Link } ) relating to Lotus Notes and I read it was apparently fixed in 8.5.1 - sadly I got it when upgrading TO 8.5.1, so we can safely assume that fix missed the bus.

    Any assistance would be appreciated - combined with the Passport Advantage entitlement error earlier, I'm already lost half a day of productivity.

  1. 11  John Foldager http://www.johnfoldager.com | 10/12/2009 8:24:38 AM

    @Ed, It's a great release and one we have been waiting for!

    I've been upgrading a couple of 8.5 servers (SuSE ES and OpenSUSE) to 8.5.1 with no problems at all :o)

    I've upgraded my Notes client on Ubuntu 9.04 from 8.5 to 8.5.1 which also works great. Now I even have text descriptions on my icons on the Notes workspace :o)

    I've upgraded my Domino designer client on Windows XP Pro and the client works great... although I didn't get an option in the login-dialog to switch location until I had restarted the client two times. The designer is a lot faster, but I think there are still a lot to work on. Fx. the auto-completion in LotusScript editor doesn't finish "sub delete" with "end sub", the auto-suggest options doesn't show if you are typing fast and the resize of the auto-suggestion doesn't resize/move the help dialog next to it.

    I might find other issues later today but for now those are minor bugs and overall the 8.5.1 release is GREAT!

  1. 12  Darren Duke http://blog.darrenduke.net | 10/12/2009 8:25:34 AM

    @Ed, I will never, ever go back to an earlier release. 'Nuff said.

  1. 13  Fred Janssen  | 10/12/2009 8:27:22 AM

    Anything about the Electronic availability of the localized versions? The announcement letter only mentions the "Physical media and documentation" date and refers to this KB article which does not have the dates for 8.5.1 yet: { Link }

  1. 14  Peter Pennings  | 10/12/2009 8:28:07 AM

    Have been working with 8.5 and xpages for a while, and it seems 8.5.1 is a lot faster.

    I will have to play with it a lot more to be sure, but for now its runs fine.

  1. 15  Peter Pennings  | 10/12/2009 8:28:09 AM

    Have been working with 8.5 and xpages for a while, and it seems 8.5.1 is a lot faster.

    I will have to play with it a lot more to be sure, but for now its runs fine.

  1. 16  Johnny  | 10/12/2009 8:28:16 AM

    I like the new calendar function. I miss a 64bit version of notes...

  1. 17  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/12/2009 8:33:37 AM

    @13 for some reason, we can't announce the local language eGA dates until the actual eGAs. It's a weird new thing and I am trying to understand it better for the next announce. But you can sort of deduce the eGA dates from the pGA dates -- the first set of languages should be mid-November, and the second set around the first week in January

  1. 18  David Leedy http://www.lotusnotebook.com | 10/12/2009 8:34:06 AM

    Took me a while, and some twitter help to find the packages. Domino software was removed off the front of my Passport advantage page. But it was under all downloads.

    Also it took me a minute to figure out that the Mac client was listed under "Enterprise Client Access License 8.5.1". All the clients and Symphony are there. Traveler as well.

    First upgrade of designer went faster then the last beta did for me.

  1. 19  Dave Harris http://www.wavysworld.com | 10/12/2009 8:38:47 AM

    Still downloading, but thanks for getting this out so early today, Ed, and congratulations to you and all the team on what looks, from what people with faster links are saying, like a phenomenal release.

  1. 20  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/12/2009 8:40:01 AM

    @16 no plans for a native 64-bit version in the short-term. Supported on 64-bit OSs obviously. What is it that you are looking for out of a 64-bit implementation?

  1. 21  Ian Farr  | 10/12/2009 8:52:13 AM

    For those trying to find the right Notes download try this technote on finding it - it gives names and part numbers to use on Passport - the names will differ on Passport :-) Thanks Dublin for clarifying

    { Link }

  1. 22  Darren Duke http://blog.darrenduke.net | 10/12/2009 8:52:59 AM

    @20, so is 8.5.1 supported on 64 bit Vista and XP?

  1. 23  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/12/2009 8:57:12 AM

    @20 / 22 Ah, typing too quickly here. We will run on the various 64-bit OSs, but not yet officially supported. The plan being worked now is to support Windows 7 in 64-bit mode for Notes 8.5.2 or maybe earlier. For Vista and XP 64-bit, we do not support directly but we have done the testing for Citrix and other 64-bit environments and are reasonably confident of operation in those environments, as a 32-bit app.

  1. 24  Steve  | 10/12/2009 8:59:17 AM

    Ed,

    does this release support Windows 7?

    I have had some minor issues running 8.5 Notes client under 7.

    Thanks

  1. 25  Charles Robinson http://www.cubert.net | 10/12/2009 9:00:16 AM

    Ed - It's going to take a while to go through the outstanding issues from CD8 to see what's been fixed in the gold release.

    @22 - I don't know if it's supported, but I'm running 8.5.1 on Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit and haven't had any OS-specific issues.

  1. 26  Peter Meuser  | 10/12/2009 9:00:58 AM

    I will like 8.5.1. a lot (more than 8.5) if:

    - web application development on Domino is really coming back to my toolset, because XPages and the new Designer tools make RAD happen in this area, too (sorry, will take some time until serious feedback is possible)

    - I will be able to bring the Notes/Symphony integration on par with Notes/MSOffice so that I may offer Microsoft-free CRM solutions based on Notes (the new Symphony LSX should do the trick, but it will take some time to make it happen)

    - the Java developers on the eCommerce side of integrated development (I am involved in) won't smile at me pityful, if I have to tell them about my problems offering and using (their) web services

    - integrated development for Notes/Blackberry (as announced on Lotusphere this year) will arive in real life

    - Notes in Standard mode runs faster and more stable in Citrix enviroments (we will start with tests tomorrow, the experience with the improved starting time of a locally installed client is at least promisful)

    - even the iPhone users do not ask for Exchange support (we will switch the Beta installation tomorrow to released code)

    - the backup/restore headaches are gone with the latest DAOS (the Non-Domino guys from the data center otherwise love the idea of less used disk space)

    - the just (Domino 8.5) fixed problem with scrambled mail sender addresses containing special characters (unknown to most of the american part of the word) won't rise up again with Domino 8.5.1 (but seems to be the case according to IBM support)

    - we will get back centralized handling of individual mail signatures (after Lotus switched quietly from text-based to richtext formated signatures)

    You see, the Notes dev team makes me happy with just some little surprises...

    Maybe I would have seen more of the many little improvments coming with 8.5.1 to the average user, if I don't have to bother that much with the base... And: I am sorry about my atypical use of Notes (especially already using Snow Leopard!) - so I know, that I am not representative in the yellow cloud. If you like, I will collect some votes of real users.

  1. 27  Björn Hamrin  | 10/12/2009 9:05:47 AM

    Finally found the server download, thanks. Downloading now. Running 8.5.1 client already. as someone said, it took quite sometime to install/upgrade.

    Downloading from Ireland didn't work.

    But downloading from US was really fast anyway.

  1. 28  Neeraj  | 10/12/2009 9:10:11 AM

    This would be a good place to vent that the search by part number (CR9TXEN) or by keywords ("8.5.1" or "Client Access License") returns nothing.

    The only way that worked for me too, is the way @3 mentioned.

    Time will tell if this is the "holy Grail" for stability, as we sure need it on the Client front :-)

  1. 29  Neeraj  | 10/12/2009 9:11:11 AM

  1. 30  David Price  | 10/12/2009 9:12:51 AM

    Any recommendations where I can find information on SPNEGO? I checked the Admin help in 8.5.1 and right now there is a "java.lang.ClassCastException: java.lang.Object" error trying to access the 8.5.1 info center.

  1. 31  Frank Westmoreland http://www.ajg.com | 10/12/2009 9:18:50 AM

    @16 - @20 I miss 64bit because I'm stuck running notes beta 8.5 on all of my 64-bit vista and windows 7 machines. I have to run a 32bit vpc to run notes 8.5 client version.. as we can't install native 32-bit notes client on a 64-bit machine.

  1. 32  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/12/2009 9:23:08 AM

    @31 it will probably take a major release to go to a native 64-bit client... it's not as simple as a new test matrix.

    @24 and speaking of, official support for Windows 7 will come at 8.5.2 or possibly earlier. As noted by Charles, plenty of people running on Windows 7 without issues.

  1. 33  Mark Hughes  | 10/12/2009 9:26:08 AM

    OK, lets see if anyone can help

    I can not find the Admin Designer client...

    I go to view all downloads..

    i have "IBM Lotus Domino Messaging and Collaboration Express 8.5.1 for Multiplatforms English eAssembly(CR9VLEN)"

    No designer / admin

    I do not have the "Enterprise Client Access License 8.5.1" listed

    I called passport advantage - they told me to wait a few hours or until tomorrow, after they tried to add the part number to my list and could not. They said it still needed to be upgraded or something

    Telling me to wait is hard: i had the iPhone on day1, i had the wii on day 1 that's who i am!

  1. 34  Jo  | 10/12/2009 9:40:26 AM

    The new LS editor is much appreciated.

    Pity it is not used outside script libraries.

    (no type ahead for custom classes in form events e.g.)

    j.

  1. 35  David Leedy http://www.lotusnotebook.com | 10/12/2009 9:43:31 AM

    Mark,

    I see:

    IBM Domino Server 8.5.1 for Multiplatform English eAssembly(CR9SQEN)

    This has:

    IBM Lotus Domino Designer 8.5.1 for Windows 32 bit English(CZ5S0EN)

    Listed under it for me.

    I also have:

    IBM Lotus Domino Enterprise Client Access License 8.5.1 for Multiplatform English eAssembly(CR9TXEN)

    This also has Designer (Same part as above) listed for me.

    Try looking for the server category?

  1. 36  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/12/2009 9:52:01 AM

    Also, we are working on changing the "Designer" description back to "all client" since it includes admin and some are not finding it that way.

  1. 37  Carl Tyler http://www.iminstant.com | 10/12/2009 10:12:52 AM

    I have yet to install it, any issues using 8.5.1 client against a Domino 8.0.2 server, as I can't update my server as it is also my Sametime server.

  1. 38  Johnny  | 10/12/2009 10:20:15 AM

    Okey,

    It would be greate to have possibility to run on 64bit os with 4gb ram, also on linux 64bit. There is a problem to install the 32bit version of the client in Ubuntu. I think there is workarounds but to much work...

    I heard there will be an administrator for linux in 8.5.2?

  1. 39  Rebecca http://www.worldvision.org | 10/12/2009 10:21:51 AM

    Maybe I'm just easily pleased but I'm so happy with the naming convention of the files as they download. Here's to the simple joy of not having to know what those ridiculous numbers mean after you download them! Hurray for IBM for making it easier for the Admin's in this area.

  1. 40  Mark Hughes  | 10/12/2009 10:30:03 AM

    @David thanks for the suggestions but

    It Still doesn't show...

    It must be something with my PA site, i will wait and try to learn a lesson in patience

  1. 41  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/12/2009 10:31:53 AM

    @38 not sure where you heard that. No plans for admin in Linux in 8.5.2.

    @39 you're welcome :-)

  1. 42  Simon Boulton  | 10/12/2009 10:40:48 AM

    Downloaded OK from US Site. Decent speed, surprisingly in view of the demand :). Having played with the client and designer, I'm very happy. It zips along :)) and the new Java and LS editors are great. At last I can easily write Java agents using an up-to-date JVM!(I'm also an Eclipse user). Maybe some small issues will emerge as I use it more and more. Verdict so far? A great job by the team, who it appears are not resting on their laurels. I'm very happy - I've had this wide grin on my face all day today, which is unusual for a Monday :). Thanks to all involved!

  1. 43  Johnny  | 10/12/2009 10:41:31 AM

    I want to upgrade our second domino server from 8.5 to 8.5.1. We have two servers in a cluster. Could this affect our primary server and end up with problem?

    I mean if the design element of names etc will upgrade on the second one and start replicate over to the primary server etc.

  1. 44  marco foellmer http://ebf.de | 10/12/2009 11:01:37 AM

    we use Snow leopard with 8.5.1 and there are the issues which we already reported in the ND beta program:

    - cmd+O Dialogue does not show the icons

    - select documents does not show the indicator icon for selecting documents

    - replicator page is not shown as expected

    We was hoping to get this fixed with 8.5.1 GA code.

    Are there any plans to fix this?

    Ciao marco

  1. 45  Phil Barlow http://www.mbs.ac.uk | 10/12/2009 11:13:25 AM

    So Far so good upgraded 3 servers to 8.5.1. Where do I find traveller we already have 20+ Windows and Nokia users and the iphone crowd want access.

  1. 46  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/12/2009 11:19:35 AM

    @44 we are working with Apple to address these issues, see other posts and in the beta/DP forums

  1. 47  Carlos http://www.ccsmed.com/english/index.asp | 10/12/2009 11:19:51 AM

    Where is the full Client???

  1. 48  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/12/2009 11:24:29 AM

    @47 If you mean "all client" kit, it's there -- it was initially called Designer (only) but we are fixing this. See this technote for part numbers:

    { Link }

  1. 49  Flemming Riis http://www.it-experts.dk | 10/12/2009 11:33:21 AM

    Congratulations on the release.

    Is there public schedule on when the trial's will be updated to 8.5.1

  1. 50  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/12/2009 11:42:40 AM

    @49 we do not plan to update the trials for 8.5.1. Which trial do you need/why?

  1. 51  Flemming Riis http://www.it-experts.dk | 10/12/2009 11:46:55 AM

    -@49 we do not plan to update the trials for 8.5.1. Which trial do you need/why?

    Just testing domino domain monitoring integration and wanted to ensure that there isnt a big difference from 8.5 , and since i dont work for a business partner , trials and onsite are the only way to test , so more a nice to have than a need.

  1. 52  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 10/12/2009 11:48:22 AM

    @23 Ed - I too wish it was 64 bit, if only so if I can see if it made any performance differences on 64 bit Vista. 8.5.0 on Vista 64 bit is a dog on my machine...

  1. 53  Greg Walrath  | 10/12/2009 11:52:20 AM

    I think the IBM licensing system picked the PERFECT day to decide that we don't have a Domino entitlement anymore. :(

  1. 54  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/12/2009 11:54:33 AM

    @53 you should be able to see all the downloads under "all my downloads"...we are trying to fix entitlement issues

  1. 55  Fred Janssen  | 10/12/2009 11:57:47 AM

    I am amazed by the amount of people asking questions that were asked and answered a few lines up...

  1. 56  Mark Hughes  | 10/12/2009 12:12:26 PM

    If you are an express customer, and cant find the Admin client, go download the free "Designer Client"( soon to be renamed to all clients)on www.notes.net

  1. 57  Peter LaComb  | 10/12/2009 12:23:56 PM

    You have a happy Windows 7 (x64) user here - install took longer than I expected, but it runs great. No immediate issue.

  1. 58  Charles Robinson http://www.cubert.net | 10/12/2009 12:30:08 PM

    The "all client" version is now showing up properly:

    IBM Lotus Notes, Designer and Domino Admin 8.5.1 for Windows 32 bit English (CZ5S0EN)

  1. 59  Charles Robinson http://www.cubert.net | 10/12/2009 12:33:01 PM

    But, of course, now Download Director doesn't work. :-/

  1. 60  Peter LaComb  | 10/12/2009 12:39:07 PM

    Oh yeah, Ditto of @39 - love the new file names.

  1. 61  Gregg Ginsberg  | 10/12/2009 12:58:23 PM

    @58 I'm having the exact same issue. The "all client" version is now showing under my entitlement, but selecting it won't launch Download Director and trying to grab it over HTTP gives me an "Ooops" page from Firefox and a display error from IE8.

  1. 62  Dave Lord  | 10/12/2009 1:16:13 PM

    Is traveller supported domino Linux ? i can't seem to find it anywhere.

  1. 63  Tripp Black http://www.mindwatering.com | 10/12/2009 1:24:04 PM

    @61, took me 5 times to get Download Director to start trying it w/both IE and Firefox. Got Firefox downloading the designer/admin client. Have IE dowloading 3 of the servers. Still looking for the mac client only and windows client only.

  1. 64  Tripp Black http://www.mindwatering.com | 10/12/2009 1:25:45 PM

    @62, not yet. I asked earlier on this blog. Ed replied it was in "roadmap".

    See: { Link }

  1. 65  Tripp Black http://www.mindwatering.com | 10/12/2009 1:32:32 PM

    The clients are evidently not in the all downloads yet. Found the clients via Download Finder --> Client (vs. Designer or server radio button) --> chose OS (mac, linux, and windows) --> get result IBM Lotus Domino Enterprise Client Access License 8.5.1...(CR9TXEN).

  1. 66  Johnny  | 10/12/2009 1:40:00 PM

    @41 IBM Swe.

  1. 67  Mike Robinson http://www.invcs.com | 10/12/2009 2:48:36 PM

    I've been happy since 8.5 FP1 and it's been getting better since. The 8.51beta was about as much of a production build as I've ever seen a "beta" software product. I had virtually no issues outside of a few issues with the eclipse designer (that after some time it wouldn't save my design elements even though I explicitly saved it). 8.51 gold, albeit just a few hours of use feels good. It feels like Notes went on one of those celebrity weight loss shows, and came out months later lean, mean, nibble, and ripped.

    Performance wise comparing against 8.0x and 8.5.0, it's a world of difference. The best way I can sum it up is that I have just about forgotten the UI is Java based Which *is* a compliment if you've lived through some of the really bloated java based UI products. Start up and shutdown time is a night and day improvement.

    This build feels intentional, there was a lot done to make sure it was really really *really* right once it left the building.

    In retrospect, it would have nice to have all this 2 years ago, but in terms of executing the way they have I think Lotus did it right. I like what another poster said in another thread on this site- had Lotus waited to long to ship 8.0, it would have been worse off for the entire Lotus business, than some of the performance issues we've had to deal with.

    I haven't had a chance to truly play with federated calendaring yet (I know it was there before), to much good stuff to wade through

  1. 68  Paul Nutt  | 10/12/2009 2:53:53 PM

    Has anyone tracked down the 32 bit Domino Server for AIX? In 8.5 there was a survey but I haven't found anything for 8.5.1. I have a PMR open with IBM and will post the process if someone doesn't already know. Thx.

  1. 69  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 10/12/2009 2:59:50 PM

    Clean install time: 30 minures

    Performance in Designer: significantly improved over 8.5

    The not so good:

    Still cannot highlight code in LotusScript and Formula to delete, copy, cut, whatever. Huge pain point.

    Also, weren't they going to fix it so that we could click on Eclipse wrapped databases tabs and select "Open in Designer"?

  1. 70  Bryan Zinnecker  | 10/12/2009 3:00:30 PM

    Are their plans to provide a 32bit Domino Server install for AIX? We run DUCS 1.2.5 and it requires 32bit Domino. Better yet will IBM compile a 64bit DUCS to run on a 64bit Domino for AIX so that we can fully utilize our IBM AIX investment?

  1. 71  Carlos http://www.ccsmed.com/english/index.asp | 10/12/2009 3:04:31 PM

    Ed you mind want to see this...{ Link }

    And Thanks for a very good product on 8.5.1...

  1. 72  Denny Russell http://www.lotusdr.com | 10/12/2009 3:28:58 PM

    Downloaded this morning and upgraded a test server and my client on my laptop. The client took some time, maybe around 20 minutes or so. My only complaint so far is I can't seem to have multiple Server Communities when using the embedded ST.

    I will say, I do like that fact that ST is a separate thread and I can still chat while sending something large from my mail file.

    Designer also loads much faster now than 8.5.

    Overall, nice work.

  1. 73  Kraig Vanderbeek  | 10/12/2009 3:35:08 PM

    I love it. I've already loaded it on my Mac and a Windows VM I use as well. Love the new features and especially love the Connections Business Card integration.

  1. 74  Oliver Regelmann http://regelmann.ch | 10/12/2009 4:39:29 PM

    @31: Notes 8.5FP1 ran very fine as a 32bit application on Windows 7 64Bit. And I don't expect 8.5.1 to change this, though it isn't supported yet.

  1. 75  Ian Scott  | 10/12/2009 4:46:15 PM

    I had to use my nogging a bit to get at the download files but it was ultimately a trivial issue and just added to the excitement! Once I got at the files (in USA) I enjoyed very quick download speeds (~285 kB/s) with both the server and client files coming down in under 40 minutes. Quite impressive given what must be high demand. Certainly the whole downloading exercise seemed a lot simpler than in the past and indeed the whole release seems to have been very well co-ordinated and executed in a number of respects. As others have mentioned the sensible file names are much appreciated also.

    Installation of the server was quick and as painless as ever 8-)

    Installing the clients was not quite as quick but it was painless. 8-)

    All in it took 40 minutes to install and configure the server and the client.

    Notes client.....after setting up then shutting down the client it took 3-4 seconds to get to the login prompt then another 3-4 seconds to get to the workspace. Nice! The client just feels right; it feels smooth. The 'clientbookmark' bug when setting the workspace as my default home page has gone. Nice! Federated calendars working as advertised. Big win! Drag and drop of mail onto calendar. Tick! I need time to check out the rest of it.

    Designer.....launched so fast I nearly never noticed it had actually launched. Much much better! Databases open as fast as they did in R7 and before. Much much more useable! LS Editor is going to take a wee bit of getting used to but a big thank you for it anyway! It used to be easy to make Designer fall over but I've been trying for over 5 hours now and have failed :-)

    The Help.....pre-indexing the help made it useable virtually straight out of the blocks - okay, it took a minute or so but it sure as hell beats 30-40 minutes. Excellent!

    Yeah, I would have liked this yesterday and there's scope for improvement but it's looking pretty good. Finally able to delve into composite applications without getting hacked off - there's a lot of good work been done there and I appreciate the wiki tutorials too. Really just looking forward to a few weeks of getting to grips with it.

    Well done to Ed and everyone involved.

  1. 76  Keith Collyer  | 10/12/2009 7:15:58 PM

    Can anyone answer @37? I have a different issue as I don't own the corporate servers - but I assume as Ed is an IBMer he must be running against the IBM servers which I guess haven't yet been updated.

  1. 77  Rob Brown  | 10/12/2009 8:09:15 PM

    Certainly the Mac client is a lot snappier. Having a real sad time installing it on a real Windows box though. Took about an hour to install so I thought I'd try a reinstall as something is not quite right. Now it won't even uninstall and just hangs "Gathering required information..."

  1. 78  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/12/2009 8:30:10 PM

    @76 / @37 8.5.1 against 8.0.2 is certainly supported.

  1. 79  Steven  | 10/12/2009 8:57:52 PM

    Has anyone else noticed that if you use Notes Single Logon (the Windows Services based one, not the new one) the auto login "seems" slower than when you type your password in manaully? I'm not seeing the big speed increases in the client the Beta testers were seeing, but then today is a Federal Holiday, so I've not tried to access the server copy of my mail.

    Also is it really necessary for the upgrade process to uninstall the old version of Notes? We were happy that it cleaned up all the old code when we upgraded from 6.5.2, but we're now at 8.0.2 FP2. It does add some time to the upgrade to have to uninstall the previous version.

  1. 80  Rob Brown  | 10/12/2009 9:32:21 PM

    @77 -- and all is good in Windows land but did need to blow away the Program Files\IBM directory before getting a Clean Install.

  1. 81  Mike Brown http://www.browniesblog.com | 10/12/2009 10:46:53 PM

    Great that it's there, particularly as I don't have access to Passport just at the moment!

    As 34 said, the lack of type-ahead for custom classes outside of script libraries is a major limitation. We use those classes in forms and agents far more than inside (other) Script Libraries. As it stands, this feature is not much use.

    Will this be added in a future release, Ed?

  1. 82  Ellery McKenzie  | 10/12/2009 11:41:46 PM

    A big pat on the back for the dev team please Ed. The new LS editor alone is a work of art.

    Been using and loving the new DDE (especially LSEE) all day now. Did have some installation difficulties a la several others here. Uninstalling, gutting the registry and doing a clean install solved it.

    Up until now DD was 15 years behind the play IMO. That gap is down to a few years now.

    My DDE wishlist:

    ----------------

    1. *DDE ON LINUX* - how many souls do I have to sell you to get this? Gimme this and Windows is gooooone from my desktop!

    2. Refactoring tools. I've had a good play with the default ones in Eclipse itself and they are seriously cool.

    3. Non-Notes data sources in xpages. Pweeeeeeeaaaaasseee (I'm still an xpages rookie so forgive any ignorance if there already is support for this and I'm just blind).

    4. Carry on with the start made by LSEE and improve all the other editors that haven't yet been touched (I'm looking at you, forms!).

  1. 83  Albert Buendia https://www.slug.es | 10/13/2009 1:52:12 AM

    @13, for localized / International versions for Notes 8.5.1, we've found a document at IBM site but I don't remeber the url (ibm url's are so unfriendly...) but I can link to this post regarding IBM sources:

    { Link }

    { Link }

    Hope it can be useful. Regards, Albert Buendia.

  1. 84  Andy Mell  | 10/13/2009 2:18:59 AM

    I was pleased to see that IBM fixed the mac downloads and it is now a .dmg, that is progress!

    8.5.1 Mac client feels somewhat snappier. It is also much snappier on PCs. Pleased about this.

    As per @44 we too, are disappointed at the lack of Snow Leopard support. Snow Leopard is deployed to many production macs here. The client is certainly usable, but confusing unless you know where the icons are. I hope Snow leopard support gets fixed in a month or two at most, not six months down the line.

    We'll be upgrading to 8.5.1 server and installing the iPhone/traveler stuff at the end of October.

  1. 85  Markus  | 10/13/2009 2:51:20 AM

    Designer 8.5.1 and Notes.ini parameter "JavaCompilerTarget=1.5" => Designer Crash

  1. 86  Murray  | 10/13/2009 6:40:14 AM

    Liking 8.5.1 so far :)

    Just come across a small bug - using the Notebook8 template - when I close the database I see an error message - java.lang.IllegalArgumentException - you must initialize the server before using it!

  1. 87  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/13/2009 6:54:28 AM

    @84 and as I said there, we are working with Apple on these Snow Leopard issues.

    @85/86 - I wish I could help but the forums on developerWorks and tech support are better resources!

  1. 88  Jo  | 10/13/2009 7:22:20 AM

    Smarticons loose context in the new LS editor.

    We have a smarticon that starts an agent in the database currently open in de Designer.

    In the old LS editor, the context was kept and we could simply do an agentrun.

    In the new editor, we first have to click in the left navigation pane before the DDE even knows it has a current database and the smarticon is even shown (though type-ahead from other script libs work). clicking again in the ls editor makes the icon go away again.

    Also sometimes we experience a delay in the LS editor (because of type-ahead?) which makes the second and following typed letters appear before the first. (and i'm not alone experiencing this, first i thought it was me growing thick fingers)

    Looks like all the nerves are not connected to the brain yet,

    but a huge improvement over the previous release (still not as stable as 7.0x).

    j.

  1. 89  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/13/2009 8:33:01 AM

    @68/70 this technote will be updated later today regarding 32-bit AIX 8.5.1

    { Link }

  1. 90  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 10/13/2009 8:46:31 AM

    Interesting conflict noted. If I change the ini file to point to the 8.5.0 Data directory, the client crashes on load. Actually crash is not the right word. The splash screen disappears before password prompt and nothing happens. Have to run KillNotes.

    If I leave the ini file alone, it loads like a rocket...

  1. 91  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 10/13/2009 8:49:30 AM

    Interesting conflict noted. If I change the ini file to point to the 8.5.0 Data directory, the client crashes on load. Actually crash is not the right word. The splash screen disappears before password prompt and nothing happens. Have to run KillNotes.

    If I leave the ini file alone, it loads like a rocket...

  1. 92  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 10/13/2009 8:50:26 AM

    oops..double posted...sorry

  1. 93  Steven  | 10/13/2009 9:39:59 AM

    Are people still running killnotes or is that just a generic term? Is this better than running "NSD.exe -kill" or does that not work on all platforms? It really is nice to get the NSDs automatically uploaded via policy so all like crashes can be consolidated. Servers as well as clients...

  1. 94  Brian  | 10/13/2009 9:58:10 AM

    Off topic but somewhate related . . .

    Here is a questions for everybody:

    Is everybody happy with the passport site???

    That site is terrible to navigate and find anything. Just look at the treads from the people that are trying to locate 8.5.1 software.

    If you want one small example of what I am talking about:

    When you select the OS that you are interested in for a particular piece of software and you will get a listing that includes all the OS (checked or unchecked).

    b.

  1. 95  David Heeney  | 10/13/2009 10:27:08 AM

    So glad to see this! My Mac users have had lots of problems with 8.5 and this release seems much more stable so far (and -- as noted by others -- zippier!).

    I am able to generate a consistent crash with NSD by attaching photos in the personal address book. The photo appears fine in edit mode, then Notes crashes when I save. (I was able to attach one photo successfully; not sure how.)

    Very happy about the new features, including resizing tables, auto updating of day-at-a-glance (since as a Mac user, I don't need to reboot every day).

    On resizing tables, I would have thought if I pulled the right margin, it would have converted from "fit to margins" to "fixed width". Instead, it makes the last column narrow, and widens other columns. Still need to go into Table Properties to change this.

    I'm still trying to figure out how 'show images' works. Not always clear where to find the command to show them for incoming messages (to mail, or mail-in databases). Secondary click? Tools menu?

    Re #37 -- I'm running Sametime and Domino 8.5 on the same machine. We have a small number of users (10) and seemed like overkill to have two boxes. Is this anticipated to be a problem in 8.5.1?

    Re: Traveller. I too am disappointed there's no Linux version. IBM was pushing pretty hard on moving domino from Linux to Windows, so I'm not happy that 'new' stuff is still leading on Windows in light of that push. (Yes, I recognize that the installed base of domino on Windows is probably considerably larger, though I'd be curious to see some numbers.)

    Finally, I'm hoping Apple will release Snow Leopard 10.6.2 soon and it will fix the problems I've experienced with Notes and Snow Leopard (not just the missing icons, but also mis-setting of the Java timezone to GMT minus 5 minutes instead of 5 hours in the Notes calendar displays).

    All in all though, I'd certainly rather have this release with these minor issues than to have to wait for them all to be addressed.

  1. 96  Lesley Rooyakkers  | 10/13/2009 10:48:02 AM

    I upgraded from 8.5fp1 (which was a fresh install last week) to 8.5.1 today. I get the splash screen, it asks from my password, splash screen goes away, and then nothing. The Admin client will start, but not the Notes or Designer.

    I have deleted the workspace folder (I saw that as a suggestion somewhere) but no go.

    Any suggestions?

  1. 97  Lesley Rooyakkers  | 10/13/2009 11:37:32 AM

    I uninstalled and then re-installed 8.5.1 and it starts now.

  1. 98  Keith Collyer  | 10/13/2009 12:18:02 PM

    Installing 8.5.1 lost my integrated sametime, and at least the activities sidebar. And, yes, I DID say I wanted the whole thing installed. Re-running the installer file just asks if you want to remove Notes 8.5.1, which I really don't want to do, rather than asking if you want to change the configuration as I would have expected.

  1. 99  Irv Schor  | 10/13/2009 1:25:28 PM

    Tried 2nd day in a row and cannot download via Passport Advantage.

  1. 100  Keith Collyer  | 10/13/2009 1:53:27 PM

    @98 (me) Second time around running the installer to keep the files rather than delete them and it does ask to modify installation. This time I double-checked that I had everything selected. Still no Sametime or Activities

  1. 101  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/13/2009 2:25:38 PM

    @Irv, that makes no sense to me. Look at all the others that are using it. Is it that you can't see it to download or that the download is failing?

  1. 102  Ellery McKenzie  | 10/13/2009 3:21:43 PM

    @96 - uninstall then run a registry cleaning tool to remove the detritus then do a clean install.

  1. 103  Cesar Zavala  | 10/13/2009 3:53:43 PM

    I know a lot of you have downloaded it already, but I've been trying it today (tuesday) and I've been getting an error in the browser.

    Message: unterminated string constant

    Line: 6741

    Char: 518

    Code: 0

    I was able to download a couple of files, but then I'm just getting this error so I'd appreciate if you guys have any idea on what to do.

  1. 104  Peter Wansick http://www.afuna.com | 10/13/2009 4:08:55 PM

    Installed client and server over 8.5 with no issue on Windows. Client seems faster especially when in an application then opening in designer. Most of our customers who are running 8.5 servers have held back on deploying 8.5 clients because of speed. The first time someone accustomed to R7 or earlier tries to view an agent or the design of a database they are discouraged by the amount of time it takes to complete the task. Only a few users would ever notice but what happens is the admin tries to look at an agent during trials and says shoot that takes too long, we'll upgrade the servers and wait on the client. I believe if nothing else by improving performance and decreasing the amount of time it takes to open an agent there will be a lot more client deployments. I like 8.5.1, nice work!

  1. 105  Gerry http://fidax.com | 10/13/2009 4:54:21 PM

    Full Design, Admin, Mail client does not work on the Passport site.

    Everything else dowloads correctly via Download director.

    Gerry

  1. 106  Matteo Bisi http://www.tecla.it | 10/13/2009 5:19:05 PM

    I've upgraded 2 server and all works fine.

    I love Domino but I'm disappointed with Notes..

    i've upgraded 2 notes linux, one on RedHat and another on Ubuntu, and setup installation fail because i must manually uninstall FP1 of Notes 8.5 . I've read the same occour with windows version.

    I think is crazy. I'm sure this is compulsory but i think the setup must authomatically uninstall fix if they are not supportet in the upgrade way (a tons of other sw if in upgrade way uninstall authomatically the previous version). This is insane if we think to upgrade 1000 lotus notes client 8.5fp1. I think there are a supported way to do it silently.

    On second i've upgraded 2 client with all client and symphony, one in my windows virtual machine(from 8.5) and another in phisical machine (from 8.02).

    In virtual machine the upgrade takes 1h10 minutes and in phisical 1:25 minutes.

    This is also crazy.

    After upgrade Lotus Notes work fast but i can't say to my customer this..

    me: "upgrade to 8.51 is nice, fast , many many new thing" customer : "what we must do to upgrade?"

    me: uninstall fp1 on all 8.5 client and then wait 1h

    tomorrow i will make some other test and i pray in better resoult.

    If they aren't fine i'll open a pmr

  1. 107  Henning Heinz  | 10/13/2009 5:19:54 PM

    Well true you could download but the Java downloader gave up some time yesterday and only the HTTP version worked for me(tried with IE, Firefox, Chrome). That is nice if you just want one file but for all 20 of them DownloadDirector works better. My first try also gave me a decent 16 kB/s but starting the download again today 8am worked fine. Of course Designer already gave me 2 nsd's (that is if Admins try to code) but it works much better than everything I have used in the R8 code-stream so far. I have had some trouble with the beta but those issues seem to be resolved in the gold build. Forms still take some time to load here and the new Lotusscript editor only works for script libraries and agents. It seems I cannot debug my XPage code but perfect coders don't need a debugger anyway. Putting the 500 features that I am still missing aside I must say that what is there works much better.

    By the way @IsNewDoc now seems to behave like the Lotusscript version but there is no @IsNewNote in Formula.

  1. 108  Matteo Bisi http://www.tecla.it | 10/13/2009 5:23:12 PM

    p.s the upgrade time on linux was normal in both version (rpm and deb) and takes about 10-15 minutes.

    sorry for my post but i'm scaried and disappointed about that

  1. 109  caleb  | 10/13/2009 6:48:59 PM

    ed, when will the upgrade packages be available so we can do a smart upgrade?

  1. 110  JM  | 10/14/2009 1:07:16 AM

    Downloaded the free version.

    Eclipse based editor is not available for Form events, view events, Action Button and database script.

    Hope these will be available in 8.5.2

  1. 111  Keith Collyer  | 10/14/2009 3:23:40 AM

    Spelling check is broken (note to designers, a "spell check" is what Harry Potter uses, I want to check spelling, not spells) in that it does not remember additions to the dictionary, even in a single mail message. Perhaps because I use UK English?

  1. 112  Cesar Zavala  | 10/14/2009 9:42:20 AM

    HTTP Transfers worked for me. Java downloader didn't. I'll download the clients and wait for the "Download Director" to work.

  1. 113  Irv Schor  | 10/14/2009 12:32:54 PM

    I've tried from both internal network and from a home Comcast connection (but they might be throttling). I'm seeing a 'done with errors on page' type of message. In addition, I noted that there doesn't appear to be an 8.5.1 'Basic' client download. Does this mean the only way to use the Basic edition going forward is via the -s a switch? Thanks.

  1. 114  Henning Heinz  | 10/14/2009 3:43:33 PM

    @Irv. No I have a basic client option on Passport although I did not try to download it.

  1. 115  Keith Collyer  | 10/15/2009 5:45:32 AM

    @98 (me, again) complete uninstall, registry clean and install sorted out Sametime and Activities.

    @111 (me) Spelling check still not working, though. Apparently, the install was supposed to migrate my user dictionary, but it seems not to have. There is a workaround to continue using the legacy method. Might have to try that one.

  1. 116  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/16/2009 9:36:45 AM

    So there is a download problem with the US servers and download director, to @113. Try the Dublin server.

  1. 117  Al DeLaCruz  | 10/16/2009 10:09:05 AM

    You can also just download via HTTP. That is what i had to do.

  1. 118  Aurora Vanderbosch http://www.GraceNotesPhotography.com | 10/16/2009 10:20:57 AM

    I loved the client initially--but then I found that at least two users were unable to set up RSS feeds using it--they got an "Error: unable to download a feed from host" message. Existing feeds worked--but dragging and dropping a feed, or using the Create Feed shortcut button gave the same message.

    Uninstalling 8.5.1 and reinstalling 8.5 resolved the problem--but until that's resolved (so far, I've been unable to even find any other people mentioning the problem, online), we can't roll this out.

    As a side note, there's a regression bug in the Admin client, when running it against a 6.5.6 server (we're running that configuration, because we're in the process of upgrading). When trying to delete a user, using the Admin client, you get an error message about an unsupported function (didn't write it down--I recognized the message, and knew I'd have to downgrade, right away), and the user can't be deleted.

    I first saw this in an earlier version of 8, reported it in the beta forums, was told it would be resolved in 8.5 (and it was--but it's back again... I can, however, see that that wouldn't necessarily be a priority for IBM, since it's an odd configuration...but the RSS feed problem is definitely an issue for us. :(

  1. 119  Nazeer Aval   | 10/16/2009 2:55:53 PM

    great performance improvement. Is 8.5.1 package available for Foundation Start?

  1. 120  Lenni Sauve  | 10/19/2009 12:51:05 PM

    We upgraded a development server on Friday and I also upgraded my client (including Designer and Administrator). Now, my xpages no longer work as they did before.

    Clicking a simple edit button on an xpage appears to have no effect (xpage still looks like it's in read mode), however, it is saving a 'replication or save' document. Creating an xpage and clicking a simple Save button, which should save and redisplay the document in read mode, redisplays it still in edit mode, and only saves some of the fields.

    So I go to some other databases, created by xpage experts, which also worked perfectly when the server and client was 8.5, and now, I receive "script interpreter error" all over the place.

    Looking on the 8.5 forum, there are others experiencing the same problem. I must admit, I was sooo looking forward to 8.5.1, however I'm not a happy camper now.

  1. 121  Marcus Khoo http://metkhoo.blogspot.com | 10/22/2009 6:24:20 AM

    I have ubuntu 9.04 64 bit on my laptop and have got Lotus Notes 8.5.1 working fairly well. I had to "--force-architecture" though during the install.

    Anyone know when Lotus Notes will directly support ubuntu 64 bit?

    I can't be the only one wanting this....

  1. 122  Bernard Horowitz http://www.raisingeli.com | 10/22/2009 12:30:59 PM

    Anyone have the official word on whether or not IBM is going to support 8.5.1 on a 64bit Windows OS like Windows 7 or Vista?

  1. 123  Mads Brenoe  | 10/27/2009 3:51:30 PM

    @121 I'm running Linux Mint (which is based on Ubuntu) so direct support for 64 bit Ubuntu would be very nice indeed. Also used force-architcture, however now I'm fighting with some loading of shared libraries, because I don't have the 32 bit versions.

    @Ed I believe that 64 bit linux is more widely used on desktops that 64 bit Windows, so please provide out of the box installations of Notes on 64 bit distros.

  1. 124  BAM  | 11/12/2009 5:37:25 PM

    The great news is that 10.6.2 actually fixed the Lotus Notes issues on MacOS Snow Leopard you reported in your post... now this could make a breif note on your web site to spread the great news to all Mac Notes users around !

    :-)

  1. 125  Dirk  | 11/14/2009 1:37:19 AM

    could not install 8.5.1 on Snow Leopard (10.6.2) - installer crashes:

    Application Specific Information:

    *** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSUnknownKeyException', reason: '[<AppController 0x1aca50> valueForUndefinedKey:]: this class is not key value coding-compliant for the key children.'

  1. 126  Robert Farstad  | 2/3/2010 4:57:54 AM

    Answer to Aurora Vanderbosch:

    Check your Internet Explorer proxy settings. I also got this error message in the feed reader. And it turned out the IE proxy settings were set. Even though I use Firefox as a default browser, Lotus Notes fetches settings from IE.... Don't know why.

    So I removed the proxy settings in IE, and Voila!

    Hope this helps.

  1. 127  Bob Greenberg http://www.plugsinc.com | 5/23/2010 11:59:19 AM

    I just installed 8.51 and came up with no workspace, and none of the usual icons on the open list...anyone have any ideas? I tried resetting the client, removing the client and reinstalling. This is an established user, new laptop.

    Bob

  1. 128  vicky wilcox  | 12/17/2010 9:55:38 AM

    how do i install the spelling dictionaries for Lotus 8.5.1? I am not the administrator either so teh install CD is not available. Can I just add the spelling dictionaries? I need the spanish language and my system is running the old .dic file so it won't read it.