Beta is such an ugly word it seems, that Netscape is calling its second beta of Communicator Preview Release 2, and its up now at http://www.netscape.com. It adds Windows 3.1, Macintosh and Unix support to go with the Windows 95 and NT support announced last month. Communicator is the coming-together of Netscape Navigator, Messenger, Collabra, Composer and Conference tools. There will be at least one more beta-test version before the full release, which is now slated for some time in the second quarter, according to the company. The Macintosh version takes up 6.2Mb of hard disk space, and runs in a bloated 14Mb of RAM. But the company says that will change with the final version. Netscape admitted the Macintosh version is a little memory heavy right now. It recommends 8Mb for the Windows 95 version. Netscape also put the beta of Messaging Server 3.0 up on the Web site, which the company says completes its SuiteSpot 3.0 offering, albeit in a beta version. The support program Netscape is planning for its beta releases is to be called Expert-to-Expert, and will be aimed at medium to large organisations – not individuals calling up with their gripes. Communicator is now up on Windows 95, NT, 3.1, Mac, Solaris, HP-UX, SGI Irix, AIX and DEC Unix.
