InformationWeek

August 4, 1997

Microsoft, Lotus Team On The Net

Lotus to support object model

icrosoft and Lotus Development Corp. detailed plans last week for making their Internet software products work together. The agreement includes a plan to expand the integration of the Lotus Notes client software with the next release of Microsoft's browser, Internet Explorer 4.0.

Lotus will embed the browser engine from IE 4.0 in its forthcoming Notes 5.0 client. Users will be able to open a window within Notes and use the Web-browsing features of IE 4.0, including support for dynamic HTML and the Channel Definition Format, which pushes content to users' desktops. The integration will let users send entire Web pa ges as E-mail messages, including Java applets, ActiveX components or scripts embedded in a Web page.

The move by Lotus, which no longer bundles Netscape's Communicator Internet client suite, raises the question of which other companies might also defect from Netscape, says Tim Sloane, an analyst at Aberdeen Group in Cambridge, Mass. With Microsoft licensing its products in pieces-something Netscape can't do because Navigator isn't designed as components-some companies may feel they don't need Netscape anymore, he says.

But Dave Rothschild, director of client product marketing at Netscape, downplays that notion, saying that Lotus' announcement simply extends an existing relationship with Microsoft.

Lotus Domino 5.0 server-its Notes-Web server combination-will include support for Microsoft's Active Server Pages, componentized scripts that run on a Web server. The directory in Domino 5.0 will synchronize automatically with the Active Directory in Microsoft's Windows NT 5.0 Server, due next year. Add itionally, Lotus will support Microsoft's Component Object Model in Notes, Domino, and its SmartSuite application suite. This will provide better interoperability between Lotus and Microsoft products.

Notes 5.0 is due in January, and Domino 5.0 is expected to ship by year's end.

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