Lotus Notes gets a facelift: Version 8 beta review and visual tour

First detailed review of Notes 8 (beta 2) I've seen so far.  Jumping to the final paragraphs:

IBM's overhaul of the Notes user interface is largely for the good. Even though I don't personally like the consumery look of the new calendar, things like in-message "conversation" viewing and the new "Open" button for applications are useful additions. But it can still be a daunting piece of software to get to know, with some nonintuitive UI issues remaining.

From the perspective of the end-user e-mail client alone, I'd be happy to upgrade to Notes 8 to get added features such as in-message threading and Activities, but not so much so that I'm ready to plead with our IT department for an upgrade. I might make a single request, though: With the word processing and spreadsheet collaboration that Quickr is supposed to bring, an upgrade would be more appealing. 

See the full article for details and screen shots.

Link to Lotus Notes gets a facelift: Version 8 beta review and visual tour