Lotus and Microsoft Promote Interoperability on the Web

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., and REDMOND, Wash., July 29, 1997 — Lotus Development Corp. and Microsoft Corp. today announced that they have reached agreement on new initiatives aimed at meeting customers’ needs for great interoperability and advanced levels of integration among their Internet software products. The initiatives include plans for Lotus to ship Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0 with strategic Lotus products and to deliver extremely tight integration between Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 and the upcoming release of Lotus Notes.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 will be added to the Lotus Notes 4.6 client package, as well as to the forthcoming release of SmartSuite, Lotus’ integrated suite of desktop applications, soon after Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 becomes available. Lotus has shipped Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 with these products since early this year.

“Users need to know that their favorite products will work together, so they can get on with their core business and not be distracted by dueling interpretations of standards,” said Jeff Papows, Lotus’ president . “With Notes 4.6, Lotus is taking an evolutionary step in client functionality by extending the browser functionality beyond mere browsing. Users want to mail-forward Web pages with all their associated elements intact; to manage, categorize, search and store pages locally; to perform group browsing and rating functionality; and more. This is the kind of value that Notes can deliver to browser users based in part on the level of integration that we are achieving with Microsoft Internet Explorer.

“We are excited about the work that we are doing with Microsoft as it relates to Microsoft Internet Explorer, Windows NT® and Microsoft’s Component Object Model, and we look forward to future cooperation on other technology initiatives such as support of CDF for webcasting and Windows NT 5.0,” Papows said.

“The collaborative approach between Microsoft and Lotus to make computing easier not only meets the goals of our two companies, but will deliver great benefits to our vast base of shared customers worldwide,” said Bill Gates, chairman and CEO of Microsoft. “Lotus continues to deliver products that are extremely well-integrated with Windows NT, and we anticipate that interoperability with offerings like Notes and Domino will tighten further with Windows NT 5.0. Integration with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 and the key industry standards it supports, including Dynamic HTML, will give users the richest possible Internet access from key Lotus products.”

The two companies also plan to ensure strong support of Microsoft’s Component Object Model in Lotus applications, which will make it possible for Lotus and Microsoft to support a more integrated environment for cross-product tasks such as serving Microsoft Excel sheets from a Lotus Domino-developed Web page, using Microsoft Word as an e-mail editor in Lotus Notes, or using Lotus WordPro as an editor served from Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS).

Lotus Domino servers and Lotus Notes clients are also planned to take advantage Microsoft technologies such as Active Desktop
™
interface, Active Directory and Active Server Pages. In addition, Lotus’ Domino Intranet Starter Pack solution currently configures mail users directly from the Windows NT directory.

Lotus views browser components such as those in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 as the next key evolutionary step for browsers, rather than traditional standalone browser applications. These components can be more rapidly and deeply integrated into applications such as Notes than can traditional noncomponent browsers, allowing both the browser component and the applications using that component to benefit from the other’s functional strengths. For example, Notes 4.6 will deliver a rich Microsoft Internet Explorer experience from within the Notes desktop environment due to its use of Microsoft Internet Explorer scripting controls.

The two companies have reached new levels of cooperation in critical engineering and standards areas such as those described here and the joint work already made public with respect to Web standards for calendaring and scheduling, as well as HTML 4.0, channel definition format (CDF) and other emerging standards.

Lotus Development Corp., founded in 1982, is a subsidiary of IBM Corp. Lotus offers high-quality software products and services that reflect the company’s unique understanding of the new ways in which individuals and businesses must work together to achieve success. Lotus’ innovative approach is evident in a new class of applications that allow users to access and communicate information in ways never before possible, both within and beyond organizational boundaries. Lotus now markets its products in more than 80 countries worldwide and provides numerous professional consulting, support and education services through the Lotus Services Group.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

Microsoft, Windows NT and Active Desktop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.


Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. In addition, all Lotus news releases are available on the Internet, via the Lotus Development Corp. home page http://www.lotus.com/ . The Lotus home page is an easy way to find information about Lotus and its business partners’ products and services.

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