Hitachi Ltd has announced ES/Kernel2, claimed to be a much more efficient version of its ES/Kernel expert system development tool, which also enables horizontally-distributed multi-level inferences through a client-server system – a world first according to Hitachi. The original ES/Kernel expert tool was released in 1985 on the 2050 workstation, and the new ES/Kernel2/W runs on the newly released 3050 model Unix workstation and Hitachi claims that it is 10 times more efficient than previous versions thanks to the addition of a handbook function, development of a knowledge parts function, and the addition of an intelligent compiler to which has been added a translator. The inference speed has been increased fivefold. Because the user interface part of an expert system usually takes a large part of the development time, according to Hitachi, the new ES/Kernel/W provides a whole set of user interface development tools such as an attributes editor. Hypothetical interfaces are also now supported.
