As I wrote in this blog posting, IBM and HCL presented what was new and upcoming in IBM Notes and Domino v10 and 11 at the Engage conference at the end of May. Domino is the server, which they now hope to people will start using as an open development platform with the help of technology like Dokker and Node.Js. Notes is the client, where users traditionally have used the applications developed on the Domino platform, as well as using the email and calendar features the client offers.
They also announced new functionality for the Notes client, but I was very disappointed that there won’t be a new user interface in v10. Instead, HCL and IBM are going with the same design that the six-year-old v9 already has. But on the other hand, what future does the Notes client really have?
In this day and age, a heavy client is not something you want to have to deal with. I have great love for the Notes client, and I’ve defended it against haters several times. Yes, it can be cumbersome to administrate, but the Notes client has an undeserved bad reputation.
If your conclusion is that HCL are neglecting the client and that it’s potentially dead then I completely disagree. HCL are very aware of who their client base are, it’s not email customers it’s application customers using Notes applications who need the Notes client. They don’t need a redesign but HCL have already said that they are removing many of the features that people weren’t using that made the client large such as the feedreader and components so they are making it lighter and faster. What Notes client customers need is for the client to continue to be supported to be updated and to run their apps. They did announce a refocus on the workspace which is something many users have asked for.
New application development is heavily weighted towards web and mobile and so that’s what HCL talk about when discussing application development but their sessions are clearly separated into topics so no you won’t hear a lot about the Notes client in an application development session or webcast, you’ll hear about it in a Notes client session. In the application development roundtable held by Andrew Davis at Engage there was no mention of Notes or Xpages being sidelined and the emphasis was on Xpages being a parallel platform to Node.
Hi, Gab. Thanks for your comment. Interesting thoughts. I’m not saying HCL is neglecting the client (at least I don’t think I am). I’m saying that I don’t see a big need for a huge bloated Notes client in the future. Also, they strongly hinted that another client might be on the horizon. As for Xpages, I only quoted one of the people at the presentation on Wednesday afternoon. Yes, I’ve never been a fan of Xpages, but most projects I’ve been involved with where we have webified Notes applications, Xpages have simply not been used.
I tend to agree. I think Domino will be around for a long time, but the Notes client days are numbered. ICAA will provide an alternative for customers who need application access via a thick client. I think that is the reason it appeared in the first place.