You got me wrong. I meant that it's not strictly necessary to wrap appl_init, appl_exit and these things around a new interface because you have to provide the old API for compatibility anyway. And using new features require always a new API.
I figured it would be easier to have one underlying API for testing and debugging and making sure things are compatible if you mix the old and the new.
My suggestion (for the new API) is a central, unified kernel event interface for all types of events.
Hmm .. so something completely new. I'll think about it.