Alan R. Simon & Tom Wheeler 
Open Systems Handbook [PDF ebook] 

Open Systems Handbook, Second Edition provides an easy-to-read, thorough, and management-oriented explanation of the promises, dangers, and realities of open systems. This edition describes specific products and various open systems that have been updated to reflect the events of the mid-1990s. Emerging open technologies that either didn’t exist in 1991 or were in their infancy, such as client/server middleware, are also covered. Topics include the definitions and history of open systems, open systems components, end user interaction points, and elements of open systems software. The general communications hardware, visual application development, models of integration, and advantages of open systems are likewise elaborated. This publication is a good reference for computing professionals and engineers working on open systems.