MACS is a modular framework for collaborative applications. It is designed to overcome shortages in current systems such as lack of detailed control, complicated and technical user interface and limited portability. This will allow wide spread use not limited to computer professionals. Two main application areas are currently distance learning and tele-software engineering. In both cases portability is a important issue, as nowadays typical network environments are heterogeneous. Portability is achieved by using only standard Java and widely supported extensions for the implementation.

MACS is structured according to the following four levels: Display, Control, Tools and Network. The Display level is responsible for the Graphical User Interface and, therefore, a main factor for the perceived ease of use. The Control level provides access to necessary databases and contains mechanisms and strategies for session, application and floor control. The Tools level contains locally available tools. The Network level provides an abstraction layer for network access and allows an application transparent usage of different network protocols.

A number of tools are currently under development, including audio, video, chat, whiteboard and a CASE editor. The whiteboard has already been used for distance learning, more specifically for the transmission of lectures via MBone. MACS itself is scheduled to be used for a seminar later this year. The CASE editor TelSEE currently allows to work with text (e.g. source code) and UML objects.

MACS is available in form of a demo release featuring basic functionality. The current version is 0.3. The next steps are to implement a GUI for the classroom scenario and to further integrate and use the functionality of the floor control.