In one fell swoop Tuesday, Microsoft and Lotus have forced Netscape to make a significant decision on the position and future direction of its browser and workgroup products. Lotus agreed to bundle Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.0 with upcoming versions of Lotus Notes and SmartSuite, and said it will support a variety of Microsoft applications and Internet technologies that compete with similar Netscape initiatives.
In the past, Lotus has bundled both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator in Lotus Notes, but refuses to include Netscape's new Communicator suite because many of the features - primarily email and collaboration software - overlap with core Notes functions.
However, Lotus president Jeff Papows has said that Lotus will bundle Netscape Navigator with future Notes products if the browser is unbundled from the Communicator client suite. The Lotus-Microsoft deal puts Netscape in the difficult position of potentially sacrificing the 12 million Notes desktops for the sake of promoting what they expect to be a lucrative market for messaging/workgroup client and server products. For Microsoft, the deal gives it a distinct advantage in the Lotus Notes workgroup world.
"Whether the browser wars are over or not, it is clear that Microsoft is not giving an inch in the desktop browser fight," said Jim Balderston, an analyst with Zona Research. "They are going in aggressively to counter Netscape in some very key areas."
In addition to the bundling of Explorer, Lotus also said Notes would support Microsoft's Component Object Model and other Internet technologies, including Channel Definition Format, Dynamic HTML, Active Desktop, Active Directory, and Active Server Pages. Several of these compete with similar Netscape technologies. Both Lotus and Microsoft said that COM, in particular, is a key in the integration of Explorer and Notes.
"We're seeing a major vendor like Lotus adopting the IE and other Web technologies based on their merits and superior performance," said Will Poole, senior director of business development at Microsoft's Internet and collaboration division. "Even if Lotus bundles Navigator, they won't get the level of product integration that they will with IE." He cited the ability to browse the Web using Explorer within Notes, and then being able to monitor browser activities - searching functions, for instance - from within other Notes applications.
Scott Eliot, senior product manager for Lotus Notes, agreed that the Notes-Explorer integration is beyond anything the company could currently do with Navigator, and underscored that the support for COM will lead to some unprecedented types of functionality in its Notes product, which itself is an ActiveX container.
"I have to stress the difference between component browsers and application browsers, because that's what makes this an interesting announcement," said Eliot. "There are not a lot of mutual efforts on the part of competitors that manifest in a customer requirement, which is being able to mix and match components across products. That's what this represents."
Eliot said that Notes users will be able to monitor Web pages in Explorer, and have a message sent via Notes mail when any changes are made to that page. Pages could also be sent to other Notes users with embedded links, applets, and other such components preserved.
Netscape representatives did not return calls in time to meet this story's deadline.
