Gregg Eldred

After migrating a Domino server to new hardware and upgrading it to Domino 8.5 (from R5), the client has a few workstations that cannot handle the Notes Standard Client. To mitigate performance issues on these older workstations, Lotus has two choices to allow the user to run the Notes Basic Client, which can be found in the TechNote, "What's new in Lotus Notes 8 Client?".

To launch Notes 8 (Basic Configuration), create a shortcut on your desktop to point to nlnotes.exe in the Notes program directory. Or, simply launch nlnotes.exe. In addition, you can create a shortcut which executes notes.exe within the Notes program directory and add one of two command line switches, -sa or -basic. For example: C:\Program Files\Lotus\Notes\notes.exe -sa.

As of Notes 8.0.2 and Notes 8.5, there is a Notes.ini parameter that can be used to control launching of Basic and Standard. Adding UseBasicNotes=1 to a Notes Standard install will launch Notes Basic instead. If the ini is not present or is set to UseBasicNotes=0, the Notes Standard client will run.

If you are wondering why you would choose one method over another, that is, why use the ini parameter when you can change the shortcut, there is another TechNote that addresses this question (emphasis, mine).

A new notes.ini feature in Notes 8.0.2 added the ability to install the 8.0.2 Notes Standard client, but launch the Basic client based on a Notes.ini parameter UseBasicNotes=1. This notes.ini parameter will allow external programs that launch Notes, such as a MailTo: URL, or launching an NSF file directly, to launch Notes in Basic mode if UseBasicNotes=1 is set in the Notes.ini. This will allow customers to rollout a single package, but define which users will launch Basic vs Standard via this Notes.ini parameter.

To assist with the differences between the Basic and Standard Notes Clients, you can find those on page 165 of the IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8 Reviewers Guide. Finally, if you are new to R8, you will find that the menu structure has changed. Again, there is a TechNote to assist you and your users with the transition to Notes 8. The one menu option that I always enable is "Advanced Menus." Most users will not need this option, but it may be useful to enable this option. To enable Advanced Menus, simply click on View - Advanced Menus.

Link: What's new in Lotus Notes 8 Client?

Link: Using 'UseBasicNotes=1' in a multi-user installation causes Notes setup to hang

Link: Menu mappings: Where to find Notes 6/7 menus that have changed in Notes 8

Technorati tag: Show-n-Tell Thursday SnTT

Comment posted by Sean Cull05/29/2009 05:41:14 PM
Homepage: http://www.seancull.co.uk

you can manipulate the ini setting using policies which means that you can control which client opens up via the domino directory on a person by person basis

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Comment posted by Bernd Webster06/01/2009 09:08:54 AM

You could also use a parameter in the shortcut:

http://www.lntoolbox.com/en/notesini-reference/bycategory/setup-and-configuration/19-Setup_and_Configuration/2343-UseBasicNotes.html

For example: C:\Program Files\Lotus\Notes\notes.exe -sa

so you could run both clients on your PC without modifying the notes.ini every time.

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Comment posted by anthony06/26/2009 03:55:22 AM

I admit, I have not been on this webpage in a long time... however it was another joy to see It is such an important topic and ignored by so many, even
professionals. I thank you to help making people more aware of possible issues.
Great stuff as usual....
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Comment posted by andrew06/15/2010 05:11:38 AM
Homepage: http://www.videorolls.com/watch/Installing-the-Lotus-Notes-8-0-Basic-client

Thanks for all the links and tips you have posted here, guys!

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