The Midipix framework addresses and solves two distinct development problems. The first problem may be broadly defined as "how can I easily, robustly, and reliably port my existing software solution to the Windows Operating System?", and is thus primarily about porting to Windows of a pre-existing software solution done after the fact. Conversely, the second problem may be defined as "which framework should I use for my Windows-targeting solution", thus making it primarily a design-time problem.
Our point of departure is that new technologies in general, and in the domain of large organizations and enterprise runtime environments in particular, do not supersede older technologies but rather operate side-by-side with existing solutions and older technologies, which in turn raises the need for a bridge layer.
When it comes to the area of Systems Programming and Toolchain Development, Windows-vs-Unix programming models, and Enterprise-Grade Integrated Solutions, Midipix provides a superior bridge layer in terms of robustness, security, performance, auditability, and seamless integration with the native execution environment.
Windows vs. Unix
The gap between the worlds of Windows on the one hand, and Unix/Linux on the other continues to be acute, and is best verified by the time and resources that Microsoft, Canonical, and other key players have been investing as part of their efforts to bridge it.
Native
Following slow and careful development that started in early 2013 and thorough testing at mission-critical production environments, the Midipix development framework and runtime environment offers a Native Solution that works on all versions of Microsoft Windows that matter, including legacy versions such as Windows 7, Vista, and Windows XP.
Microsoft WSL?
Compared to Midipix, and while there is room for everyone and everything, Microsoft's own WSL framework may be seen as a hybrid solution that introduces the disadvantages of a virtual machine on the one hand, while removing the security barriers that would otherwise be guaranteed by the use of a virtual machine on the other.
The framework's early adopter is LBM Systems, a provider of integrated printing, document customization, and document archiving solutions.
LBM chose Midipix over the alternatives for use with their biggest customers, most notably the US Social Security Administration, as well as a large, US-based ERP provider, who provides business software for the lumber and building materials industry.
The framework has been, and continues to undergo thorough testing by LBM's own developers, and was thoroughly tested by different SSA tech teams during a long beta phase prior to moving into production more than six years ago.
The Midipix-based LBM product currently undergoes beta testing on the ERP company's servers, and will become part of their production environment by the end of 2020, serving about 20,000 users that are connected to the ERP provider's Windows Terminal Servers running their integrated solution that now has the Midipix-based LBM product as one of its core components.
At the time of this writing, there are several options available to those interested in deploying original, portably written software.
On one end of the spectrum one finds the Midipix Runtime and Development Framework: a native, customizable, open-source sub-system, which seamlessly supports multiple installations on the end-user's machine (important if your end-users are expected to install additional Midipix-solutions by other vendors).
On the other end of the spectrum there is the lightweight utility virtual machine which allows interaction with the native system, where deployment would consist of the virtual machine backend (provided by the operating system), a Linux distribution (provided by a third party of at the App Store), and your own software.
The ability to interact with the native system strongly differentiates it from traditional, isolated virtual machines, and is arguably the most attractive feature of the lightweight utility virtual machine.
Rather than comparing Midipix to the most popular lightweight utility virtual machine that is currently available (specifically WSL2), we have chosen to focus here on inherent traits and characteristics of the above solution, thereby pretending that there were no bugs or incomplete features in its actual implementation.
For more information, please contact info at sysdeer dot net.