Paul Mooney made Microsoft a nice compliment on the client for Live Communications Server. I suppose he means Office Communicator.
I’m not so sure I agree with him about SameTime being the best corporate IM product. I assume based on the current figures it may still be the one most widely used; still …
Futhermore it is not so much a client server discussion but much more how IM and more specificly Presence is being integrated in the the overall workenvironment. Microsoft has gots it’s act together on that point, so I can understand the excitement in the Notes community on Hannover, which is … 1,5 years away
.. and I was really, really hoping for a new look for the Sametime client.
The new client image is to the right. It looks old and clunky compared to the newer LCS clients and free messenger client software. Its a great product, but as ever Lotus will be hurt by the front end. Carl pointed the lack of development of the GUI in the releases of Sametime since the beginning.
Not much has changed here. Sametime is the best corporate IM product, but its the pretty front end that users will go for. Lotus has learned with Hannover which looks amazing, and the integrated IM client is excellent, but the dedicated client needs a revamp![Via Paul’s Blog]
Update : Paul has made some additional clarification on Presence IBM platform in his post, so please follow the link for his additional comments …
Hi Pete (Quite complimented you read my site actually). My full review of the product will be completed in the near future, but don’t let my comments on the GUI throw you.. The product is excellent and unrivalled on the marketplace. The box running sametime can be my mail server/application server/intranet server and awareness server, all on one machine with full cluster support if required and unmatched security.
Presence awareness is everywhere in the Notes client, including mail and standard applications. To add any level of awareness to ANY Domino application (Web based or Notes client) takes a few minutes using the free code that comes with Sametime. Let’s not forget all the other SDK’s that come with sametime that allow it to hook into almost any front end. The current Notes6.5 front end is “lit up” with presence awareness. My comment was on the Thick client only.
Paul,
I was not anticipating you would be overly negative about SameTime and why should you.
The recognition that Microsoft is doing a good job on the client side (and also on the server side !) is also very true. I’ve had a look at Carl Tyler’s blog at the SameTime client screenshots and the lack of innovation on the client side (at leaset from a screenshot perspective) is obvious …
Not a problem Peter. I was just clarifying a post that I could have written clearer…
Still, I enjoy reading youre site and was impressed that mine was even on your radar…
Paul,
I try and keep up with the developments on Real Time Collaboration and Collaboration in general, so I maintain a long blogroll Also on Lotus related stuff 😉
@ Andres,
You are right, major improvements to the UI of SameTime and it was about time too I would say. I can imagine a lot of “Note-sies” are enthousiastic about a new UI.
You have noticed that my blogpost was about 9 months ago, so it ‘ll be a year when it hits the market.
Have you been following Microsoft’s developments in the RTC area ?
Just a clarification… It is true that until release 7, Sametime Client did not have improvements on the look & feel..
But does was until now… New release of Sametime Client, currently on Beta and going to market on summer, has a new revamped look&feel that is good enough to satisfy anyone. It is based on eclipse, so it runs on Win, Mac & Linux, and it is extensible (you can add funtionaties with plugins). In addition to a fantastic look & feel, it has feautures that no other IM messaging currently has (i.e, ortographic correct, broadcast suite…). With the plugin model, for example, it is easy to plug a new adapter for automatic translation, other IM connection, etc….
Of course, it has also everything that is “Critical for business”, as emoticons, differents fonts, sizes, etc ….. (as ironically, was say on lotusphere…)….