<s>
The	O
Common	B-Operating_System
Open	I-Operating_System
Software	I-Operating_System
Environment	I-Operating_System
(	O
COSE	O
)	O
was	O
an	O
initiative	O
formed	O
in	O
March	O
1993	O
by	O
the	O
major	O
Unix	B-Application
vendors	O
of	O
the	O
time	O
to	O
create	O
open	O
,	O
unified	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
(	O
OS	O
)	O
standards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
COSE	O
process	O
was	O
established	O
during	O
a	O
time	O
when	O
the	O
"	O
Unix	B-Application
wars	O
"	O
had	O
become	O
an	O
impediment	O
to	O
the	O
growth	O
of	O
Unix	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
,	O
already	O
dominant	O
on	O
the	O
corporate	O
desktop	O
,	O
was	O
beginning	O
to	O
make	O
a	O
bid	O
for	O
two	O
Unix	B-Application
strongholds	O
:	O
technical	O
workstations	O
and	O
the	O
enterprise	O
data	B-Operating_System
center	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
Novell	O
was	O
seeing	O
its	O
NetWare	B-Operating_System
installed	O
base	O
steadily	O
eroding	O
in	O
favor	O
of	O
Microsoft-based	O
networks	O
;	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
multi-faceted	O
approach	O
to	O
battling	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
they	O
had	O
turned	O
to	O
Unix	B-Application
as	O
a	O
weapon	O
,	O
having	O
recently	O
formed	O
a	O
Unix-related	O
partnership	O
with	O
AT&T	O
known	O
as	O
Univel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
other	O
Unix	B-Application
unification	O
efforts	O
that	O
preceded	O
it	O
,	O
COSE	O
was	O
notable	O
in	O
two	O
ways	O
:	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
formed	O
in	O
opposition	O
to	O
another	O
set	O
of	O
Unix	B-Application
vendors	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
was	O
more	O
oriented	O
toward	O
making	O
standards	O
of	O
existing	O
technologies	O
than	O
creating	O
new	O
offerings	O
from	O
scratch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
represented	O
the	O
significant	O
Unix	B-Application
system	I-Application
and	O
OS	O
vendors	O
of	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
holders	O
of	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
brand	O
and	O
AT&	O
T-derived	O
source	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
represented	O
almost	O
all	O
the	O
key	O
players	O
in	O
the	O
two	O
major	O
Unix	B-Application
factions	O
of	O
the	O
late	O
1980s	O
and	O
early	O
1990s	O
,	O
the	O
OSF	B-Application
and	O
Unix	B-Application
International	O
(	O
UI	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Notable	O
in	O
its	O
absence	O
was	O
OSF	B-Application
co-founder	O
Digital	O
Equipment	O
Corporation	O
;	O
Digital	O
did	O
finally	O
announce	O
its	O
endorsement	O
of	O
the	O
COSE	O
process	O
the	O
following	O
June	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
COSE	O
's	O
announced	O
areas	O
of	O
focus	O
were	O
:	O
a	O
common	B-Application
desktop	I-Application
environment	I-Application
;	O
networking	O
;	O
graphics	O
;	O
multimedia	O
;	O
object-based	O
technology	O
;	O
and	O
,	O
systems	O
management	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
September	O
1	O
,	O
1993	O
it	O
was	O
also	O
announced	O
that	O
the	O
COSE	O
vendors	O
were	O
developing	O
a	O
unified	O
Unix	B-Application
specification	O
with	O
the	O
support	O
of	O
over	O
75	O
companies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
OSF	B-Application
or	O
UI	O
,	O
the	O
COSE	O
initiative	O
was	O
not	O
tasked	O
to	O
create	O
or	O
promote	O
a	O
single	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Their	O
approach	O
was	O
to	O
instead	O
survey	O
and	O
document	O
the	O
OS	O
interfaces	O
already	O
in	O
use	O
by	O
Unix	B-Application
software	O
vendors	O
of	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
resulting	O
list	O
,	O
originally	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
Spec	O
1170	O
"	O
,	O
evolved	O
to	O
become	O
what	O
is	O
now	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
Single	O
Unix	B-Application
Specification	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spec	O
1170	O
(	O
no	O
relation	O
to	O
the	O
SPEC	O
benchmarking	O
organization	O
)	O
was	O
named	O
after	O
the	O
results	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
COSE	O
effort	O
to	O
determine	O
which	O
Unix	B-Application
interfaces	O
were	O
actually	O
in	O
use	O
;	O
inspection	O
of	O
a	O
large	O
sample	O
of	O
current	O
Unix	B-Application
applications	O
uncovered	O
1,170	O
such	O
system	O
and	O
library	O
calls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Management	O
of	O
the	O
specification	O
was	O
given	O
to	O
X/Open	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
1993	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
announced	O
that	O
the	O
UNIX	B-Application
trademark	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
at	O
that	O
time	O
owned	O
by	O
Novell	O
,	O
would	O
be	O
transferred	O
to	O
X/Open	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
developments	O
meant	O
that	O
the	O
UNIX	B-Application
brand	O
was	O
no	O
longer	O
tied	O
to	O
one	O
source	O
code	O
implementation	O
;	O
any	O
company	O
could	O
now	O
create	O
an	O
OS	O
version	O
compliant	O
with	O
the	O
UNIX	B-Application
specification	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
then	O
be	O
eligible	O
for	O
the	O
UNIX	B-Application
brand	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Besides	O
the	O
opening	O
and	O
standardization	O
of	O
the	O
UNIX	B-Application
brand	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
notable	O
product	O
of	O
the	O
COSE	O
initiative	O
was	O
the	O
Common	B-Application
Desktop	I-Application
Environment	I-Application
,	O
or	O
CDE	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CDE	O
was	O
an	O
X11-based	O
user	O
environment	O
jointly	O
developed	O
by	O
HP	O
,	O
IBM	O
,	O
and	O
Sun	O
,	O
with	O
an	O
interface	O
and	O
productivity	O
tools	O
based	O
on	O
OSF	B-Application
's	O
Motif	B-Application
graphical	B-Library
widget	I-Library
toolkit	I-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
announced	O
direction	O
for	O
networking	O
was	O
for	O
all	O
participants	O
to	O
sell	O
,	O
deliver	O
and	O
support	O
OSF	B-Application
's	O
DCE	B-Operating_System
,	O
UI	O
's	O
ONC+	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
a	O
NetWare	B-Operating_System
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
object-based	O
technology	O
,	O
CORBA	B-Architecture
was	O
called	O
out	O
as	O
the	O
underlying	O
technology	O
,	O
but	O
method	O
of	O
implementation	O
was	O
left	O
to	O
the	O
individual	O
companies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
1994	O
UI	O
and	O
OSF	B-Application
announced	O
their	O
merger	O
into	O
a	O
new	O
organization	O
,	O
which	O
retained	O
the	O
OSF	B-Application
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
COSE	O
initiative	O
became	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
OSF	B-Application
's	O
"	O
Pre-Structured	O
Technology	O
"	O
(	O
PST	O
)	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
efforts	O
in	O
turn	O
eventually	O
became	O
the	O
responsibility	O
of	O
The	B-Application
Open	I-Application
Group	I-Application
,	O
an	O
entity	O
formed	O
by	O
the	O
merger	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
OSF	B-Application
and	O
X/Open	O
in	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
end	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
significant	O
product	O
of	O
the	O
COSE	O
process	O
was	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
a	O
universally-recognized	O
single	O
UNIX	B-Application
standard	O
and	O
an	O
independent	O
organization	O
to	O
administer	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
marked	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
Sun	O
's	O
OPEN	B-Operating_System
LOOK	I-Operating_System
graphical	O
environment	O
in	O
favor	O
of	O
a	O
Motif-based	O
desktop	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
making	O
the	O
latter	O
a	O
standard	O
rather	O
than	O
a	O
proprietary	O
toolkit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
it	O
had	O
less	O
impact	O
on	O
the	O
other	O
standardization	O
areas	O
it	O
originally	O
intended	O
to	O
address	O
,	O
it	O
nonetheless	O
had	O
a	O
major	O
influence	O
on	O
the	O
future	O
of	O
Unix	B-Application
extending	O
far	O
beyond	O
the	O
12	O
months	O
of	O
its	O
independent	O
existence	O
.	O
</s>
