1. A system for maintaining and processing information pertaining to a condition of a computer network and providing the information to a user, the computer network including a plurality of network entities such as computer devices and software applications being executed on such devices, the system comprising: a virtual network machine comprising interrelated, intelligent models of network entities and relations between network entities, the virtual network machine including: means for acquiring network information pertaining to the condition of a network entity from the corresponding network entity; means for maintaining objects repesenting network entities and relations between network entities, each of the objects including: one or more attributes comprising network data relating to a corresponding network entity and derived from the acquired network information, and one or more inference handlers for processing the network data, the inference handlers being responsive to changes occurring in one or more objects and including means for watching an attribute, means for generating a trigger in response to a change in the watched attribute, and means responsive to the trigger for producing a response in an object, wherein a first object has a first inference handler with a first means for watching an attribute in a second object and a first responsive means responsive to a change in the watched attribute of the second object; and means for transferring the network data to a user interface; and a user interface coupled to the virtual network machine for supplying the network data to a user.