IBM has today announced general availability of Lotus Notes 8 and Lotus Domino 8, claiming the updates will incorporate a wide range of collaboration tools alongside the email client.

Michael Rhodin, general manager IBM Lotus Software, said the aim of the new version is to consolidate a wide range of collaboration tools onto one screen. "Collaboration is eclipsing email as the killer app we use daily, whether your virtual desktop is on your desk, in your car, your hand, or your ear," he said. "Notes and Domino 8 is your personal portal to the Web 2.0 world."

The company said the suite aimed to provide "much more than email" by integrating instant messaging, presence awareness, office tools for creating and editing documents, presentations, spreadsheets and custom applications, such as CRM and helpdesk support, into the Notes environment. Web 2.0 innovations, such as RSS feeders and access to blogs and discussion forums, have also been incorporated within the new suite.

Enhanced search functionality and a new user interface featuring an expanded sidebar aim to make it easier for users to navigate the new functionality and ensure their "most valuable resources are within sight".

IBM said the ability to access information and applications "without leaving the inbox" would significantly bolster users' productivity, adding that the new Lotus productivity tools' support for the Open Document Format (ODF) would allow the suite to integrate seamlessly with the rest of the desktop and enable users "to import and export supported file formats used by Microsoft Office and save them either in the original format or ODF".

The company also predicted that with over 90 percent of Lotus Notes customers running the most recent two versions of the software it was well positioned to continue its high rate of customers upgrades, adding that the software's support for a wide range of platforms, including Linux and Windows for clients and Windows, Linux, Sun Solaris, AIX and IBM System i for servers, would make it relatively easy for firms to roll out the technology.

Pricing for Notes 8 starts at $101 per client while Lotus Domino server software starts from $14.75 per value unit.