IBM/Lotus hit back at Microsoft's boast that it plans to steal 5 million Notes customers this year by detailing a new 300,000-seat licensing deal with an Asian company and strong interest in Notes from emerging markets.

Last week, Microsoft's COO Kevin Turner told financial analysts that his goal is to have the company's messaging and collaboration software <A HREF="http://www.pcworld.com/article/149324/2008/08/.html?tk=rss_news">displace 5 million Notes seats this year.</A> Turner also said Microsoft has replaced 8 million seats of Notes in the past two years.

It was another shot in a messaging and collaboration war that has been going on between the two for nearly 20 years. In the late 1990s, the two jousted using email seat-count numbers that were often inflated if not outright dubious.