Outlook Vs Lotus notes

Outlook Vs Lotus notes

Microsoft Outlook – An Overview

Description – Microsoft Outlook deals with numerous accounts, such as MSN, Exchange, IMAP, Hotmail, and POP accounts. It offers several effective ways and filters to thread, organize, find, and label the messages.
Besides, it also features special phishing and junk mail filters that are programmed to move all the unsolicited messages automatically to a special folder, called the ‘Junk e-mail’. Outlook supports Windows 7, XP, and Vista. The unique RSS feed reader is designed to treat all the news items as e-mails. Moreover, with Outlook, it is possible to view all the files attached with the message, using the ‘Outlook attachment preview’.
In addition, Outlook’s special ‘search folders’ help segregate items depending on the required criteria. It supports the IRM access control and the S/MIME e-mail encryption. Looking for any specific message or item in the account or folder is extremely fast and easy with Outlook. Also, the mail content is displayed in plain text format. Last, but not the least, in Outlook, the remote images doesn’t get downloaded. This is just to ensure that your privacy is protected.
Thus, Microsoft Office Outlook is a powerful e-mail client, which is highly effective in fast search, organizing the virtual folders, scheduling, integrating the to-do lists, filtering spam, and offering solid protection against phishing.
History – First launched as an integral part of Microsoft Office ’97, Microsoft Outlook is nothing but a PIM (Personal Information Manager) application offered by Microsoft. In principle, it actually represents the evolution and merger of the Exchange Client and Schedule+. While the former was Microsoft Exchange Server’s 1^st e-mail client, the latter was a time management and calendar application of Microsoft. It was in the year 1992 that the Schedule+ was introduced as part of Windows 3.11, along with its complementary Mac Version. Microsoft Office ’95 was also updated with the new Schedule + feature. Exchange Client, on the other hand, was first introduced as a part of Exchange Server 4.0 in the year 1996 and then, as a part of Exchange Server 5.0 in 1997. Outlook 97 was finally adopted by the Exchange Server 5.5. In fact, the Exchange Server Version 5.5 was also shipped with Outlook for Mac, Windows 3x, and DOS. Since 1997, Microsoft Outlook has evolved over time and has been introduced in several versions till date.
Versions – The present day version of Outlook is Outlook 2007. However, there were numerous other versions that were introduced between the first version of 97 and the current version of 2007. Some of the main versions of Outlook that were introduced during this period of 10 years were:
·         Jan, 1997 - Outlook 97 Version 8.0
·         June, 1998 - Outlook 98 Version 8.5
·         June, 1999 - Outlook 2000 Version 9.0
·         May, 2001 - Outlook 2002 Version10.0
·         October, 2003 - Outlook 2003 Version 11.0
·         November, 2006 - Outlook 2007 Version 12.0
Each of the aforementioned versions, excluding Outlook 98, is available as standalone application and also as part of the Microsoft Office Suite. In the Microsoft Office Suite 2007, 7 different SKUs are made available. Each of these SKUs, except Student 2007 and MS Office Home 2007, has Outlook 2007. The latest version of Outlook was released in December, 2007, as part of MS Office 2007 SP1.
Pros– The major advantages of using Outlook are as follows:

·         It offers extremely effective filters for spam and also blocks all the phishing attempts.
·         It helps to organize mail in a better manner with its flexible search options and features, such as virtual folders, and mail and conversation grouping.
·         It also helps in integrating to-do lists, e-mails, social network updates, and scheduling.
Cons – The major disadvantages of MS Office Outlook are-

·         Owing to a large plethora of options made available to the users, it becomes a little confusing to set up MS Office Outlook.
·         With Outlook, it is not possible to create flags, rules, and smart folders, which learn by examples
·         It lacks flexibility in its RSS feed reader and also does not offer user-friendly message templates.

Lotus Notes – An Overview
Description: Lotus Notes, an effective application suite, which defied the easy categorization, is one among the collaborative office programs that enable the users to communicate, work, and live in ‘modern office’. Lotus Notes was the first application that brought the users together and was in fact, the pioneer of internet connectivity.
History: The early versions that led to development of Lotus Notes were first introduced in the year 1973 by David Woolley. This early messaging platform was nothing but secured message board software, and was named as ‘PLATO Notes’. In the year 1976, another version called the ‘PLATO Group Notes’ was introduced. Built on a similar framework, Lotus Notes was finally released in the year 1989 by Iris Associates. This application suite was the brainchild of the PLATO notes expert, Ray Ozzle. The earliest version of Lotus Notes featured contact lists, document databases, e-mails, and discussion boards. The software and hardware limitations of this version were overcome in several other versions that were introduced later. In the year 1995, the Iris Associates were acquired by IBM, which helped to take the platform to the next higher level.
Versions: Since its inception, the most important versions that have been released till date are as follows:
·         Version 1- 1989
·         Version 1.1 - 1990
·         Version 2 - 1991
·         Version 3 - 1993
·         Version 4 - 1996
·         Version 4.5 - 1996
·         Version 5 - 1999
·         Version 6 - 2002
·         Version 6.5 - 2003
·         Version 7 - 2005
·         Version 8 - 2007
Pros: Lotus Notes is just like any other software installed on computers and usually requires the Domino Server for its functioning. Just like Outlook, it manages the to-do lists, calendars, and diaries. Some of the major advantages of using Lotus Notes are as follows -

·         It is capable of creating databases for the purpose of workflow management.
·         It enables the mobile users to access the e-mails remotely through webmail or VPN.
·         As compared to the vulnerable environment of Microsoft Office, Lotus Notes is much more secure.
·         Support offered by the Domino technology is extremely reliable

Cons: However, following are certain disadvantages of Lotus Notes -

·         Navigation offered by Lotus Notes is a little awkward
·         It requires a lot of manipulations
·         For any kind of changes, e-mail additions, or workgroup creations, a Lotus Notes user would require a technical support person. 
·         It needs to updated and backed up every now and then to ensure optimal processing.

Microsoft Outlook vs. Lotus Notes – Which Is Better for Whom?
Outlook over Lotus Notes: MS Office Outlook is mainly useful for home offices, small businesses, and companies. It is a prevalent e-mail client for them and can be used easily without any technical support. It is usually preferred over the Lotus Notes as the latter is relatively less flexible and susceptible to database corruptions, owing to its limited user base and slower software updates. As is clear from the pros and cons of both the e-mails clients described above, changing from Lotus Notes to MS Office Outlook is helpful for the organization as well as for its clients.
Costs: As far as the costs are involved, Lotus Notes is a little more expensive than Outlook as far as the initial licensing costs for non-redundant messaging system is concerned. But, when it comes to licensing costs for redundant messaging systems and the overall costs of full solutions, Outlook is more expensive than Lotus Notes. The TCO (Total Ownership Cost) is also more for Outlook. It is only because of this that Lotus Notes is sometimes preferred over Outlook.
Lotus Notes over Outlook: IBM’s Lotus Notes is usually preferred by big businesses for corporate-wide messaging and collaboration. It is, in fact, a leader in the collaboration market, and is preferred over Outlook owing to its security features, unmatched mobile productivity, unparalleled browser-dependant access, in-built features for scheduling and calendaring for large businesses, easy availability, scalability, reliability, powerful integration with the Microsoft technology, user-friendly customization, association with a trusted vendor like IBM, and integrated, built-in collaboration features.