Meanwhile, news on the fly has Unix System Laboratories Inc and Santa Cruz Operation Inc – plus at least one other independent software vendor – preparing to lend their support to a common operating system interface effort, COSI. Apparently the two suppliers are now agreed (or have at last been convinced by third parties) that a unified user environment for their respective Unix implementations, combining shared application programming interfaces and front-end elements – from desktop objects down to high-level system administration functions makes sense. COSI is thought to be part of a much broader technology effort now coming together that will likely involve IBM Corp too in some way, though no-one we spoke to was prepared to elaborate further for fear of upsetting delicate negotiations. Announcements on all or parts of the effort are promised as soon as this week.
