Since that time the low-level capabilities of a number of existing operating systems have caught up with the basic processing requirements of the new kinds of applications that customers want. Taligent's investors have continued to develop their own operating systems, sometimes using Taligent technology and sometimes supplying technology to Taligent for further development. Most important, customers interested in Taligent technology have made it clear that in addition to their need for new application capabilities, they need to preserve their investment in existing data and associated applications and operating systems. Any new kinds of applications must not only run on a variety of existing operating systems but also be capable of interoperating with existing procedural applications.
Although Taligent is still focused on its original goal of making applications
easier to create and use, the company's strategy has evolved in response to the
expressed needs of its customers. Instead of developing a traditional operating
system from the microkernel up, Taligent has created a new category of system
software, called an application system, that provides a comprehensive set of
services for building flexible, portable application solutions. Some aspects of
the microkernel-based operating system that are still under development may be
incorporated into the operating systems provided by Taligent's investors and into
other Taligent products.
The rest of this chapter surveys some trends in the computer industry, explains
how the concept of an application system has evolved, and describes how Taligent
is laying the foundation for a new generation of applications.
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