[BuddhaBoy]

Notes is a testament to just how great the IBM sales division is.

There are not too many corporations who's people could actually sell that product for money.

Notes is a product that most companies wouldnt use if it was free.

[Cicero]

I think you're right. The record shows that Microsoft sometimes starts behind, makes an inferior product, and takes a few years to catch up, but in the end they usually produce a better product. It happened to Netscape, Realplayer, dBase, and a host of other niche companies.

IBM has done a pretty good job of coming back from the abyss, but other than their core businesses they haven't shown much creativity.

[kilohertz]

Notes is a product that most companies wouldnt use if it was free.

I will cheerfully testify that Notes is lousy, but Exchange is just as bad, and Outlook is arguably worse, mainly because Notes doesn't have the right user base to attract the virus writers ;-). (Yes, sad to say, have used all 3 at one time or another). The main design goal of these programs seems to be customer lock-in, and damn the poor user trying to keep track of his e-mail.

What is truly sad is that the e-mail portions of none of them approach the simplicity and usability of the elm reader & UNIX mail setup that I used back in college.

[freepsolo]

While many Fortune 500 Corporations using Microsoft Mail had to shut down there email...

Corporations with Lotus Notes continued with Intercompany email and little impact.

Between the filtering software and Notes - the Virus cannot run rampant as with Microsoft Mail (the Target).

I think the "I love You" Virus shut down even Microsoft for a week.