The embedding of fault-tolerance provisions into the application layer of a programming language is a non-trivial task that has not found a satisfactory solution yet. Such a solution is very important, and the lack of a simple, coherent and effective structuring technique for fault-tolerance has been termed by researchers in this field as the "software bottleneck of system development". The aim of this paper is to report on the current status of a novel fault-tolerance linguistic structure for distributed applications characterized by soft real-time requirements. A compliant prototype architecture is also described. The key aspect of this structure is that it allows to decompose the target fault-tolerant application into three distinct components, respectively responsible for (1) the functional service, (2) the management of the fault-tolerance provisions, and (3) the adaptation to the current environmental conditions. The paper also briefly mentions a few case studies and preliminary results obtained exercising the prototype.