Network Computingwww.networkcomputing.com

The enhancements in Notes R5 fall into three broad areas: the user interface, new calendaring/ scheduling functionality and support for mobile users. Lotus has also added more configuration and development capabilities. The overriding themes are ease of use and integration of information across a single, well-orchestrated user interface. Users on

e-mail systems that are not year 2000-compliant, such as Lotus cc:Mail DB6 or Microsoft Mail, will have to upgrade or migrate to a new system altogether. With all the enhancements and increased functionality in Notes R5, it pays to give it a closer look.

The Client Experience Designed to provide a single way to access and manage e-mail, calendars, contacts, Web pages, documents and tasks, the R5 interface has been revamped to appear Web-like and offer browser navigation controls. The interface remains consistent as you search for,

access and organize information. Uniformity is made possible by Notes' underlying architecture, which offers common indexing, security and synchronization models. All data types--documents, views of the inbox and tasks--are associated with a URL, providing point-and-click access.

The most striking change to the user interface is the Headlines Page. This display screen, which you see after logging in, encapsulates all of your favorite areas on the left; a larger section on the right shows your e-mail status, daily calendar, a list of open tasks and areas you check frequently. The page is browser-based; stock quotes, company events, and messages or weather forecasts run continuously in real time.

Using Mail Rules, you can filter e-mail from your manager and have it automatically displayed on your Headlines Page. For navigating through all of the applications, there is a tabbed area at the top, much like Quicken's. It's more efficient than R4.6's menu-driven navigation.

Whereas the task bar in Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook is basically a list of folders, R5 lets you view and organize different data types. In your personal workspace you can see a database, view, document, Web page or any file and navigate without opening specific folders.

The Notes R5 message form is more like that of cc:Mail R6, favored by many for its ease of use. Notes finally replaces its cumbersome brackets for text inserts with standard text boxes. Notes R5 also takes cues from cc:Mail in its separate address header, faster type-down addressing and easier address book navigation. The message is a customizable HTML form to which you can add custom fields, views and logos.

R5 lets you transform objects using drag and drop. You can turn a calendar entry or contact into a memo, and turn this into a mail message, even if the recipient has an Internet address. It's like object morphing in GroupWise.

R5 will support Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE). R5's support of IE 3.0x and above is a big plus; Outlook, in contrast, needs IE 4.01 or higher. Further improvements to the Notes rendering engine will include frames, JPEG, animated GIFs, style sheets and 2-D positioning using dynamic HTML.