My Review of IBM LND 8.5.1 The Upgrader's guide

I haven't read anyone's reviews on this as I wanted to have an open mind.
I received a free copy of the printed book itself.

My mind was open but this didn't fill it up at all.

Not that I expected a step by step effort, but the truth is this book should be retitled and offered as "Getting to know Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5.1 for those coming from R6 or R7".

It reads more like a what's new pdf than a guide to upgrading. Very weak on the upgrade and heavily leveraged the exciting new features. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but the title is truly misleading.

I am going to recommend some clients, especially the recent movers from R5 to R8, read it to get a better handle on where Domino and Notes are today. Few people, beyond techies read what's new or the readme for each version so this is a much better alternative, though at $50 the book could be a bit hefty for some price wise.

The chapter on the differences between Notes and iNotes and the iNotes versions themselves, is truly worth it if you have these kinds of discussions or trade offs in your environment to think about.

As an administrator with over 18 years on this stuff I did find a few items that were new to me or more likely forgotten. One example? DirLint.

What? you never heard of it? I searched my 851 admin help and got ZERO references. I had to look this one up and Chris Toohey was right, he is the top and perhaps only one to post about this...until now.

For a book about upgrading I ponder why there are chapters devoted to Lotus Symphony, Composite Applications and building web apps as well. I could also do without the 3rd party apps being promoted for 40 pages. Also the code provided to export the DCT should be posted and available some place. THAT could be really useful and helpful.

So for those looking to provide a client with a great overview, this will do, but do your admins a favor and don't buy this for them.