IBM Supports the Latest Client OSs with Sametime 8.5.1
August 10, 2010 Alex Woodie
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IBM on Thursday will make a new release of Lotus Sametime available for purchase. Sametime version 8.5.1 introduces support for the latest releases of desktop and smart phone operating systems, as well as support for Linux on the desktop, and Linux running on the System z mainframe. Lotus Sametime is a “unified communications” software product designed to allow business users to communicate in real-time via the product’s instant messaging (IM) client, through voice over IP (VoIP) telephony, or using its audio and video conferencing software. IBM delivered a major update to Sametime in late December with version 8.5, which introduced an AJAX-based Web chat and meeting client, a Web 2.0 API for integrating Sametime functionality into existing applications, and improvements to online meeting “rooms,” among other enhancements. With this week’s delivery of version 8.5.1, IBM is supporting Sametime on the latest client devices. For the first time, the software is supported on the Linux desktops; Novell‘s SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED), Red Hat Enterprise Desktop (RHED), and Ubuntu are supported. In addition to Linux, Sametime now officially runs on Windows 7, Macintosh 10.6, Blackberry 5.0 devices, and Windows Mobile version 6.5 devices. (All it needs now is an officially supported Android client.) On the server, Sametime 8.5.1 works with the Lotus Domino 8.5.1 server (as one would expect), and runs for the first time on Linux on IBM System z. Several other enhancements made it into this point release, including a simplified Sametime client deployment; the integration of video into Sametime Unified Telephony (“for a more compelling multimodal collaborative experience,” IBM says); and better chat logging. Sametime clients are now available for Windows, Linux, Web browsers, mobile phones, Outlook, and Notes. Various Sametime server components deploy on the IBM i server, in addition to Windows, Linux, AIX, and Solaris servers, while some server components require Windows or Linux. For more information on Sametime 8.5.1, see the IBM United States Software Announcement 210- 080 (PDF). RELATED STORIES IBM Delivers Better Online Meeting Experience with Sametime 8.5 IBM Readies Unified Communications Integration IT Shops Are Getting Wise to the Unified Communications Hype IBM Places Mobile Computing, Composite Apps on UC Pedestal IBM Hurls $1 Billion at Unified Communications Target IBM Toots Lotus Sametime Horn With Customer, Partnership Deals
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