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I thank those who have responded to my inquiries about plugin architectures. I will certainly look into the things that have been suggested.
As to the question of wheather this will be a DOS only project, my answer is a resounding YES.
I don't think I am capable of designing software for any other system.
For this problem and given my personality, I require a minimum of distractions. I need an OS that I can slide into A: and have absolute confidence that it will boot to a useful state when I turn on the machine.
The nearest thing I have found to date is BeOS.
As some of the responses pointed out, you are not constrained by a fixed protection policy. You are free to select the extender that is not just right but _PERFECT_ for your application.
I expect my AI testbench software to compile to be no more than 300k in size. With DOS it becomes possible to put DOS, the memory managers, the testbench application and the AI engine all on a single floppy and make it all so easy to use that any ten year old could use it.
My current aim is to be an AI expert/cyberneticist. I have absolutly no interest in, or time to worry about, what the hell goes on in /etc.
I won't touch windows for reasons that don't need to be re-hashed.
So, it comes down to wheather the compiler experts can deliver something that meets the AI expert's needs... This type of plugin architecture is definitely a language/compiler issue. -- Otherwise the overlay unit would never have been invented.. If I can't get the tools I need I think I will continue reading _Principals of Neuroscience_ and go on to become a brain surgeon. =\ Computers are too hard!