Sun Microsystems Inc and IBM Corp’s Lotus division will use next week’s Internet World Summer in Chicago to show off the new version of Lotus’ eSuite running on Sun’s JavaStation network computers. The eSuite package of Java applications, which includes a word processor, spread sheets, graphics and email, is currently only available on IBM’s Network Stations NCs. The JavaStation version will ship July 21. As this is Java, the porting job was not too taxing – Lotus says porting is probably overstating it – but there are a few subtle differences between the Java virtual machines on the different hardware platforms, the company says. The eventual JavaOS for business collaboration between Sun and IBM should sort that out once and for all. In a joint promotion, new buyers of Sun’s Netra j servers will get eSuite free for 120 days to try on their JavaStations. After that it will be $49 per seat as opposed to $79 if they forgo the trial period. In September Lotus will take the eSuite to 1.5, adding a port to PCs, supporting the JVMs from both Netscape and Microsoft, says Lotus. It will also add the ability to exchange files between Lotus SmartSuite and Microsoft Office applications and eSuite applets, and last, but not least, such seemingly crucial things as a spell checker and an undo facility will finally be added to eSuite.
