Lotus Notes as alternative to Microsoft Outlook

Introduction

This is a tutorial for users who'd like to move from Outlook to Lotus Notes in stand-alone mode, ie. without connecting to a Domino server.

As of Sept 2010, the current version is 8.5.2, and a free trial version can be downloaded from here.

Setup

Your name = John Doe

Uncheck "I want to connect to a Domino server"

Next

Leave all options unchecked

Next

Click on Home > Design your home page > Use the default

Why OK if I click on Contacts or Documents, but "File does not exist" when I click on Mail or Calendar?

File > Application > New : Template = Mail (8.5)

File = C:\Users\jdoe\AppData\Local\Lotus\Notes\Data\myfile.nsf

File > Open > Lotus Notes Application

File > Locations > Manage Locations > Offline > Edit > Mail : c:\Users\jdoe\AppData\Local\Lotus\Notes\Data\myfile.nsf

Q&A

Does the client include the tools to design user forms?

"IBM Lotus Domino Designer, an Eclipse-based rapid application development tool for building collaborative Web 2.0 applications that run on Lotus Notes and Domino. Designer includes XPages which allows developers to use HTML, CSS and JavaScript skills along with a set of modern Web controls, Dojo and built in Ajax services to build applications. The latest release includes usability improvements for working sets and XPages, an enhanced WYSIWYG XPage Editor, XPage performance improvements, and the ability to launch Composite Editor from Designer."

"IBM Lotus Notes 8.5 for Windows XP and Vista English Trial"

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