Notes/Domino R7
There are many new features to the new release of Lotus Notes, here are a few of the highlights for the client interface:

• Enhanced interface: The new look of R7 will build on the customizable welcome page that appeared in R5, but with switchable frame content, and other new tools, this welcome page can be more flexible than ever. This page is now also customizable from the Administration tool, meaning that an Administrator can affect the look and "push" those modifications to the user's welcom screens without the user or IT department having to do anything at each machine. These pages can be different for each department within the company, and can also be locked to prevent users from altering the standard interface. If a more flexible interface is your policy, then the revised Welcome page wizard will help users choose from templates or design from scratch, to create their own personal Welcome page layout.
  
• Drag and Drop Replication: For the mobile user, who hasn't been in a rush to get out the door and needed one specific e-mail, but didn't want to wait for the 60 or more that you've received to replicate? With R6 you will be able to replicate by dragging the message to the replicator icon in the side button bar, and it will replicate right then.
  
• Enhanced Multi-tasking: Have you ever been delayed by waiting for an agent to run, or a document to open? Or have you been sitting there while a large attachment is saved to your local machine? You will soon be able to open other databases while a given task is processed, and view its progress via a status bar at the base of the Notes window.

And on the server side:

• Policy-based management: Domino 6 introduces policy-based management, which goes well beyond R5 profiles and greatly simplifies administration, helps you maintain standard settings and configurations, and speeds up deployment of changes throughout an organization, business unit, or work group. You can set and manage registration, setup, archiving, desktop, and security policies.
  
• Smart Updates: Smart Update, lets you install upgrades at the desktop level with the push of a button. Using a Smart Update database on the server, the server Configuration document, and optionally, desktop policies, administrators control and maintain version deployment.
  
• Server Health Monitoring and Activity Trends: The new Server Health Monitoring feature monitors server performance, calculates blended server statistics for the key server components, and compares them against threshold levels (which you can set). In addition to assessing and analyzing your server state, this feature helps guide you with both short-term and long-term recommendations for improving server performance.
  
• Server Performance: The Domino 6 formula (compute) engine has had a major overhaul, resulting in computation performance up to two times faster than in previous Domino releases. This overhaul brings performance benefits in many areas including view refreshes, agents, and form rendering. In addition, network compression reduces the number of bytes sent during transactions by up to 50 percent.

If you would like some further information on what R6 can bring to enhance your businesses' productivity through your current Notes/Domino applications, or through new development, please contact either Rich Miller (rmiller@si2.com), or Will Swetnam (wswetnam@si2.com).