Last month I found the WorkPlace Beta 2 available for download on the IBM Partner World website. The download contained the new WorkPlace client that had been demo'ed at Lotusphere just a month earlier.

The download, however, disappeared fairly quickly off the site with no explaination and no sign of it returning. Everything has been quiet on the WorkPlace V2 front for the past month and now I know why...

An inside source at IBM has passed a bit of information my way to say that the Workplace client has been scrapped and that the Lotus Notes client is being retooled to allow it access a WorkPlace server.

The main reason given for the WorkPlace client being scrapped is due to the offline capabilities. As I reported last month the WorkPlace client installs a mini version of a WAS server to support offline users. The IBM source was quoted to say that 'No exec is going to lug around a server in their laptop bag to read email, retooling the notes client is the perfect answer, it's technology they are used to and it supports replication without the overhead of WAS'.

The WorkPlace V2 public beta, which was supposed to be available today has been defered for another month while the Notes client is being refitted with ActiveX controls that will allow it to present the WorkPlace interface within a portal on the clients startpage.

We will have to wait for further information when the beta arrives.