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Netscape Communicator

| Netscape Communicator is a lot more than just a Web browser - it's a package of several communication tools. The Web browser is the most important of all of them, but you'll also find an e-mail, USENET and a voice chat client as well as a Web page editor. All of them working seamlessly together.
Netscape Navigator, now in version 4, has got a much needed face lift. Navigator 3 looked oldish compared to
Microsoft Internet Explorer. Now it's the opposite. The first things you'll notice are probably the new buttons and bookmark function.
Another thing, a bit frustrating with the old version was speed. It was a bit slow. Navigator 4 is faster. However, not in all aspects. Try to browse SharePaper with the old version (or Microsoft Internet Explorer) and then the new. You'll clearly see the difference. Communicator doesn't handle tables with colors very well.
I visit a few password protected sites frequently. Typing in passwords each time in order to access the sites is boring. In Microsoft Internet Explorer this is not necessary. However, in Navigator 4 it is.
Netscape's e-mail client has most of the features, such as filtering, searching and multiple folders, you'll find in a full featured e-mail client. Especially, I like the ability to include HTML tags in the messages. Of course, users without HTML enabled e-mail clients, will not see your enhancements.
USENET can be described as a hidden treasure. You'll find lots of cool and interesting stuff there. Unfortunately, most of it is nothing but rubbish. Still, it's worthwhile to check out. With the USENET client in Communicator, this is very easy - both reading other messages and posting your own. If a message contains a picture (many do), Netscape will automatically decode and display it as it loads, as it does with images on Web pages. In other USENET clients, it's often necessary to first load it, then decode it, then view it in an external program.
Lately, we've seen many Internet phone applications. These are often difficult to use, expensive or simply doesn't work very well. Another part of the Communicator package, Netscape Conference brings Internet phone to Joe Average. Well, things like Internet bandwidth and poorly configured PCs will still limit the popularity, but at least it's no longer the software that limits it most. Don't know anyone to call? No problem. You'll find a phone book at Netscape's server. Click at a phone book entry to call the person, then you can talk. It's that simple.
Want to create your own Web pages? Well, the only thing you need to create Web pages is something you can write text in, such as the Notepad that comes with Windows. However, the editor included with Communicator is better. It's WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). Creating a Web page with it is as easy as creating a document in a word processor.
Communicator is a big improvement from Navigator 3, and better than Microsoft Internet Explorer 3. However, it will face stiff competition from the upcoming MSIE 4.

Copyright © 1996-97 Lars Mathiassen All Rights Reserved

Last updated
97-06-10
Rating
5/5
Download
Win95
Size
7.6 MB
From
Netscape
Purchase Info
Shareware/Demo