1. An operating system, comprising: at least two instances of the operating system stored in computer readable memory and distributed among at least two different heterogeneous platforms within a computing device, the at least two different heterogeneous platforms comprising a first platform on a first substrate and a second platform on a second substrate different from the first substrate, the first platform comprising a first functionality and at least one application module configured to interact with the first platform via a first local communication path and with the second platform via a remote communication path, the second platform comprising a second functionality and at least one other application module configured to interact with the first platform via the remote communication path and with the second platform via a second local communication path, said at least two instances using single-kernel semantics, the single-kernel semantics presenting a common homogenous operating system abstraction to the at least one application module and the at least one other application module such that the first functionality and second functionality are available to the at least one application module and the at least one other application module in a manner transparent to the at least one application module, the at least one other application module, the first functionality, and the second functionality.