As I look at the
special offer download page, offering limited time downloads of Lotus Notes releases 1, 2 + 3, I'm struck by a few amusing facts.
Firstly, Lotus Notes version 1 is a 2mb download. 2mb - that's utterly insane, the jpg for the splash screen alone on R6 is probably larger than that. Secondly I realise that I still have some old DOS disks kicking about that I could use to test out V1 and V2.
...and finally, I realise that I don't need to download R3, as I still have some actual proper R3 cds kicking about from when I first started using Notes, some 8-9 years ago. I now feel kind of old.
So you think you know Lotus Notes?
In 1989, when version 1 of Lotus Notes shipped, it created a new category of software known as groupware.
Since 1989, Lotus Notes has sold over 115 million licenses.
In 1989, a Lotus Notes starter pack (100 users and a server) cost $62,500 USD; in 2005, the same setup costs $16,964 USD (obviously with a bit more functionality!) or $13,300 USD for Express-eligible customers.
Lotus Notes version 1 contained 530,000 lines of code; today, in Beta 3 of version 7, there are more than 20 million lines of code.
Lotus Notes version 1, 2, and 3 applications are fully forward compatible; Notes databases created as far back as 1986 work today in Lotus Notes/Domino 7 Beta 3.