Netscape Communicator Conference and Composer Forrest Stroud
Conference and Composer
Of the final two applications in the Communicator Suite, the Conference tool is unquestionably the more revolutionary tool. Composer is essentially the same WYSIWYG Web editor included in the Netscape Gold package, with the additions of a spelling checker (shared with the other Communicator clients), support for Composer plug-ins, and a slightly improved feature-set and user interface.
The Conference client, on the other hand, is an entirely new conferencing tool that puts Navigator's old CoolTalk client to shame. On par with Microsoft's NetMeeting application, Netscape Conference offers many of the same features, including real-time audio capabilities (similar to Internet Phone), a text chat and collaborative whiteboard tool, voice mail capabilities, group browsing sessions (similar to PowWow and Virtual Places), and file exchange capabilities. Conference also utilizes an ultra low bit rate codec (RT24/29) from Voxware that aids in the client's outstanding performance.
