Lotus hits out at Netscape claims

The war of words hots up as Lotus denies claims that Domino is incompatible with IBM technology

n Stuart Lauchlan, VNU Newswire, US

The increasingly bitter war of words between Lotus and Netscape escalated again this week when Lotus published a series of counter-claims to what it called ?misleading statements? from Netscape.

The posting ? Twelve Myths in Search of a Competitive Position ? details claims allegedly made by Netscape officials about Lotus? Domino technology and issues rebuttals and counter-claims to them all.

The site includes a statement from Lotus that ?in recent weeks and months, spokespersons for Netscape have consistently misrepresented Lotus products in written materials and public forums. While we welcome competition, we believe it is important to compete in a factual context.?

The two companies have been sniping at one another for months with Lotus chief executive Jeff Papows last month describing a lot of Netscape?s messages as rubbish and dismissing Netscape co-founder Marc Andreeson as ?immature?.

The final straw for Lotus appears to have been comments allegedly made by Eric Hahn, Netscape senior VP, at a technology conference in New York last week, to the effect that Domino does not support integration with IBM?s DB2 database.

The Lotus 12 myths site is robust in its rejection of all claims that Lotus software is incompatible with IBM technology, particularly the AIX operating system. ?Lotus developers are beginning to wonder whether anyone at Netscape has even seen Domino,? it says.

It rejects claims that Domino is more expensive than Netscape alternatives, saying that there are hidden costs attached to its rival?s offerings. ?Did you ever walk out of a car dealership wondering what happened to that low price the salesman first quoted you?? asks the Lotus statement. ?Watch the extras, folks: it?ll make your head swim.?