Dear All: I have done some more editing on the OGSA-BES document, to produce version 18 (enclosed). Change tracking shows edits since Version 17. I have not yet uploaded this document to GridForge: I need to get registered as a BES member first. As before, my goal has been to improve clarity and consistency without inserting my own interpretations or prejudices. Of course I may not have been completely successful ... The main changes relative to the version 17 are as follows: * Produced an "introduction" that attempts to motivate and summarize the contents of the BES specification. * Tried to standardize on terminology by using consistently the term "activity" rather than "job" or "task." (Previously we used all three somewhat interchangeably.) * Tried to standardize on "attribute" as the things that we define in our "information model" * Adopted the term "resource model free" (RMF) for the second rendering. Ian.