Network World: Google unveils beta of offline Gmail option

January 28 2009

Well they call everything else beta, so why not pile on some more beta on top of beta...

Google Tuesday made available in beta an offline capability for its Gmail platform so business and consumer users can work with e-mail and eventually calendar items while disconnected from the network.  ... The offline access allows users to load the Gmail client without a network connection. The feature initially will be only for U.S. and U.K. English versions of the client.

Such offline features for e-mail clients have been available for years from major corporate messaging vendors such as IBM/Lotus, Microsoft and Novell. Offline capabilities are a must-have feature if Google hopes to make significant inroads with corporate customers on the back of its Google Apps Premier Edition (GAPE), which includes Gmail.
Wow, Google, welcome to the 1990s -- You might want to check out how this has been done for ten years with Lotus iNotes and Domino Off-Line Services.

Link: Network World: Google unveils beta of offline Gmail option >

Ed Brill | Cambridge, MA USA Category:  Messaging  Add/View Comments [22]

Post a Comment

  1. 1  Bruce Elgort http://elguji.com | 1/28/2009 9:11:09 AM

    Nice post Ed. You should mention that DOLS can be enabled on ANY database and makes any Domino app available off-line.

  1. 2  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 1/28/2009 9:13:09 AM

    Yes, and I should have linked to Erik Brooks on this as well

    { Link }

  1. 3  David Vasta http://www.iSeriesAddict.com | 1/28/2009 9:32:53 AM

    Ed, we should also mention how GMAIL is a huge pain to get working with any Mail Client and Calendar(Mac,Windows,Linux) client and does not seem to work like we should expect or like other products do.

    GMAIL is, IMHO, very hard to manage large volumes of email since you can't move it to a folder, it always has to be in your INBOX. Plus when you import or start using the GMAIL service like a POP server, it does not handle REPLIES like other mail system, they are not threads they are new meesages and can't be threaded.

    And the calendar on more than one occasion has become a huge mess with the same meeting still scheduled every time it was scheduled even after I accepted the changes.

    The question, when will we see the first installation of Google Mail and Calendering telling the world how happy they were to move to Lotus Notes due to whatever problems they found with it? LOL

  1. 4  Yancy Lent http://www.yancylent.com | 1/28/2009 10:08:26 AM

    How is this offering any different then POPing gmail with Thunderbird and Sunbird for the calendar?

  1. 5  Ben Poole http://benpoole.com | 1/28/2009 10:17:14 AM

    @3 Eh? In mail on the Mac you supply your GMail address and password, and that's it. Everything else (servers and wot-not) are configured automagically and off you go. Slightly different for Google apps for domains, but not difficult at all.

    As for moving mail to folders, that's so 1999 ;o)

  1. 6  Keith Brooks http://lotustech.blogspot.com | 1/28/2009 10:23:24 AM

    @4 yes thats how I use it for some accounts and I imagine so do many others, BUT which client should corps use that go to Gmail?

    There is the tough question.

  1. 7  Jim Casale http://www.jimcasale.net | 1/28/2009 10:40:13 AM

    I agree with @3. Gmail doesn't work well with clients like Thunderbird. You can get it to work but it is just weird. Why do I get my sent mail as an email in the Inbox?

    @6 They are piloting Gmail with Outlook at the organization I work.

  1. 8  Larryc  | 1/28/2009 10:52:19 AM

    I agree - the offline gmail announcement is a yawner. But DOLS as Lotus's answer???? Has DOLS been updated at all in the past 9 years? The white paper on Ed's link is dated March 2000. And, the datasheet lists the following as system requirements:

    Browsers:

    ! Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 SP1

    and above.

    ! Netscape Navigator 4.5 and above.

    Client Operating Systems:

    ! Win95

    ! Win98

    ! NT4 w/ SP4 and SP5

    Doesn't sound too modern to me.

  1. 9  Erik Brooks  | 1/28/2009 11:46:21 AM

    @Ed - Thanks for the cross-link.

    @8 - That datasheet is probably out-of-date. I doubt that nHTTP.EXE from 8.5 is going to run on a Windows 95 machine.

    Have you tried DOLS? It's been kept up-to-date in that it's been repackaged with each version (including 8.5). But it simply runs Domino's HTTP server, so it's as feature-rich (or feature-lacking) as a general Domino web server.

    Here's an update from the Fix List from 7.0.4: SPR# YHAO7FJ5ZP - Added new install package of DOLS plugin for Firefox 3.

    Not sure what that means. Maybe better FF integration?

    With 8.5 and xPages there's a possibility for some seriously killer offline/online capable apps. But DOLS doesn't work with xPages - yet. IBM just needs to package the xPage processing code (and supporting Dojo files, etc.) with the DOLS installation.

    I honestly feel that DOLS was one of those areas of N/D that was grossly overlooked during the Workplace years (amongst a couple of other areas - more about those on my blog later).

    Hopefully IBM will push it a little more. Nobody touches Notes/Domino's replication capabilities. Watching web users sync is quite a sight -- their edits coming up the wire, other changes (including new code!) going down.

  1. 10  Larryc  | 1/28/2009 12:04:30 PM

    @9, actually, I have tried DOLS. And when we asked our account team to provide us with security information, the most recent documentation they could provide us was from 2001. Not a good sign as far as I'm concerned.

    So, yeah, I guess its still supported in that it is regression tested so that it run with Domino 8.5.

    But is it *ACTIVELY* supported? All the data I see says 'no'.

  1. 11  Erik Brooks  | 1/28/2009 12:19:43 PM

    @10 - There's lots of security-related documentation in both the Designer and the Administrator help files.

    I opened a PMR just 2 weeks ago and got plenty of active support.

    Now, active *development* may be another thing. If xPage support isn't added, for example, then that's a pretty clear indicator of zero-interest moving forward.

    But other than that, there's really only a minor bit of refinement that needs to be made to the product for it to be a 9.99 out of 10. Currently I'd give it an 8.75/10.

    There's definitely a lack of active *marketing* of DOLS. IBM's still getting their feet under them with re-marketing Notes/Domino as a whole, though, and DOLS is a small piece of the puzzle. I wouldn't expect it to be trumpeted from the sky.

    The biggest barrier I see is that your offline platform has to be able to run Domino's HTTP and the DOLS desktop app. That means Windows-only, for now.

  1. 12  Andre H  | 1/28/2009 12:27:41 PM

    @ 3

    You dont need folders. all you do is apply a label and archive the message. Can be done automatically using mail rules (like in notes) ;)Certainly the search in gmail rocks and for me it is the easiest way to handle large amounts of emails. Of course for work I use Notes (v 8 rocks) but i like gmail for private use a lot.

  1. 13  Mark Dowling http://cork2toronto.blogspot.com | 1/28/2009 3:11:54 PM

    GMail launched in April 2004 - not even five years ago never mind ten. The strides that they have made in that time have been huge compared to their true competition (Hotmail) and they don't seem to be in any mood to stop improving the service.

    The article doesn't say they claim to be the first to do it, it in fact makes your own point that Lotus has been able to do it for some time. If you/Lotus want to point out that DOLS is better then call Network World and ask them to run a companion piece on DOLS.

  1. 14  Henning Heinz  | 1/28/2009 3:31:24 PM

    I am sitting here on my Macbook Pro with Firefox 3 and ask myself what will work first. Offline GMail or Domino DOLS?

  1. 15  Ben Poole http://benpoole.com | 1/28/2009 4:13:44 PM

    @14 how true. People in glass houses and all that.

  1. 16  Jeff Picco  | 1/28/2009 5:02:58 PM

    Do people really want off line services that relies upon a browser? Really? Locally encrypted Notes .nsf or pop3 is such a better solution than off line through a browser.

  1. 17  Jeff Gilfelt http://jeffgilfelt.com | 1/28/2009 5:05:36 PM

    DOLS needs to stay in the 1990s. Running a local Domino HTTP service is about as innovative as Java applets and ActiveX controls. At least Google's Gears implementation would appear to be a driving force behind the WC3 HTML 5 spec for the offline web. What was that about IBM supporting open standards again?

  1. 18  Keith Brooks http://lotustech.blogspot.com | 1/28/2009 7:20:37 PM

    @7 if they are, so what is the benefit? they still are paying for Outlook clients and most likely the office professional enterprise which includes everything except Domino in it.

    But yes using alternative mail programs with gmail does seem to have some things left to think about.

  1. 19  Erik Brooks  | 1/28/2009 8:51:21 PM

    @14 - My money's on Gmail, definitely. DOLS is surprisingly easy to enable, but it's still an IBM product and doesn't have the ultra-simplicity of UI that it could. But it's close.

    @16 - Some do. If you've got an app that you're used to working with ONline from anywhere via a browser, it's great to be able to take it offline and work with it in the exact same way you're used to. Yes, DOLS NSFs support encryption - an admin can force it.

    Guys, the main point here isn't the email. It's the *apps*. Offline workflow, approval, field-level security, etc.

    Wow, I feel like I'm trying to explain the value of Lotus Notes versus Exchange!

    Gears is an SQL-based database. Notes apps don't thrive in such an environment, and nobody does replication like Notes.

    IBM could go the Google Gears route and implemented a cross-browser NSF storage plugin for offline NSF work. I wouldn't be too shocked if they did. For the record, a full-featured DOLS install consumes ~110 MB, smaller than a Notes client install. It could be closer than you think.

  1. 20  Gavin Bollard http://dominogavin.blogspot.com | 1/28/2009 11:55:16 PM

    In all honesty, well done to Google. I don't quite understand why you're so down on them. Personally, when people start at our office, I usually set them up with a Lotus Notes account AND a Gmail Account (if they don't already have one).

    That way, I can tell them to throw that nasty outlook rubbish out - and I can explain how Gmail is Notes mail, Google Talk is like Sametime, Blogger is like DominoBlog, etc...

    Google's is a great HOME USER system that does wonders to promote understanding of the multi-faceted nature of the Lotus Infrastructure.

  1. 21  Jim Casale http://www.jimcasale.net | 1/29/2009 4:39:10 AM

    @18 I don't see any benefit but I guess some people do.

    I personally don't think it makes any economic sense since you will still have to support the client and any issue with it or Gmail. I think the thinking is to have tiered levels of email with Gmail being for the least demanding users. Again, it doesn't make sense to me. Neither does piloting Exchange at the same time. You would think organizations would be looking for ways to save money instead of piloting email systems that offer no real benefit.

    I guess they have to spend that bailout money somewhere right? Welcome to the world of corporate politics.

  1. 22  Rick http://www.dot.state.pa.us/ | 11/22/2010 9:07:49 AM

    Ed, The DOLS link in your post is broke (Error 404 - File Not Found) --> { Link }