1. A system for transparently mapping user level non-asynchronous transfer mode (non-ATM) sockets to an ATM virtual channel circuit associated with an operating system of a computer, comprising: an ATM middleware subsystem operable to intercept an extension call associated with the operating system from a non-ATM aware application and, using translation data, translating said extension call to an ATM API call; an ATM middleware service operable to determine whether an application comprises an ATM -aware application and controlling said ATM middleware subsystem in response to the determination; and a configuration data base accessible through said ATM middleware service and operable to store said translation data for translating said extension call from said non-ATM aware application to said ATM API call.