Object-Oriented Database

Hello , Nowadays, Object technology is hot in the IT world. Everybody is talking about it. This lead my boss to have me look into a proposal to move our group towards that technology. I am new to object technology and have no experience in it. I hope that some of you expert can help me in this area. There are a list of questions, as below: 1) How do I start my investigation? 2) Can anybody share with me their practical experience in using this technology in their industry especially the manufacturing env? 3) What are the popular Object oriented software out there that I can evaluate? 4) What are the capabilities and short-coming of this technology? Before I end, here's a brief background of the working environment I am in... I 'm the database administrator and am also a computer integrated manufacturing engineer. We are using Informix Online 5.0 for our production databases and we use Informix application softwares as well. We also use other softwares like Monitrol and Architect Interface. Our systems are all unix based and are using HP9000. Also, client-server architecture is used here. I would appreciate your replies and will summaries the findings once I feel I have gather enough info about this subject. Thanks. Regards, Cynthia Leong Hewlett-Packard, Singapore 20, Gulway, Singaopre 2262 Telephone : 65-8698107 e-mail : cynthia@hpsgcip1.sgp.hp.com