Fast booting a computing device to a specialized experience
First Claim
1. At least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions, which when executed perform steps, comprising:
- partitioning a hard disk in a non-virtualized manner to include a first special purpose operating system in a first partition and a second, different general purpose operating system in a second, different partition on the hard disk, each hard disk partition containing a set of executable operating system code configured to load the partition'"'"'s respective operating system from the hard disk partition into a computer system memory; and
managing input and output of each of the partitions to operate computer system hardware, the managing including;
receiving an indication from a user that a selected functionality is to be provided;
in response to receiving the indication, booting to the selected special purpose operating system configured to provide the user-selected functionality;
receiving a request for additional functionality;
determining that the requested additional functionality cannot be provided by the special purpose operating system; and
based on the determination, switching to the general purpose operating system that was at least partially loaded in the background while the special purpose operating system is running, wherein the general purpose operating system is partially loaded to the extent necessary to perform the requested additional functionality.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Described is a technology by which independent computing functions such as corresponding to separate operating systems may be partitioned into coexisting partitions. A virtual machine manager, or hypervisor, manages the input and output of each partition to operate computer system hardware. One partition may correspond to a special purpose operating system that quickly boots, such as to provide appliance-like behavior, while another partition may correspond to a general purpose operating system that may load while the special purpose operating system is already running. The computer system that contains the partitions may transition functionality and devices from one operating system to the other. The virtual machine manager controls which computer hardware devices are capable of being utilized by which partition at any given time, and may also facilitate inter-partition communication.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. At least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions, which when executed perform steps, comprising:
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partitioning a hard disk in a non-virtualized manner to include a first special purpose operating system in a first partition and a second, different general purpose operating system in a second, different partition on the hard disk, each hard disk partition containing a set of executable operating system code configured to load the partition'"'"'s respective operating system from the hard disk partition into a computer system memory; and managing input and output of each of the partitions to operate computer system hardware, the managing including; receiving an indication from a user that a selected functionality is to be provided; in response to receiving the indication, booting to the selected special purpose operating system configured to provide the user-selected functionality; receiving a request for additional functionality; determining that the requested additional functionality cannot be provided by the special purpose operating system; and based on the determination, switching to the general purpose operating system that was at least partially loaded in the background while the special purpose operating system is running, wherein the general purpose operating system is partially loaded to the extent necessary to perform the requested additional functionality. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method comprising:
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partitioning a hard disk in a non-virtualized manner to include a first special purpose operating system in a first partition and a second, different general purpose operating system in a second, different partition on the hard disk, each hard disk partition containing a set of executable operating system code configured to load the partition'"'"'s respective operating system from the hard disk partition into a computer system memory; and managing input and output of each of the partitions to operate computer system hardware, the managing including; receiving an indication from a user that a selected functionality is to be provided; in response to receiving the indication, booting to the selected special purpose operating system configured to provide the user-selected functionality; receiving a request for additional functionality; determining that the requested additional functionality cannot be provided by the special purpose operating system; and based on the determination, switching to the general purpose operating system that was at least partially loaded in the background while the special purpose operating system is running, wherein the general purpose operating system is partially loaded to the extent necessary to perform the requested additional functionality. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. In a computing environment, a system comprising:
a device set containing at least one computer hardware component; a plurality of coexisting partitions in executable memory, each partition containing an operating system; and a management component for controlling which partition may utilize which component in the device set at a given time, the controlling including; receiving an indication from a user that a selected functionality is to be provided; in response to receiving the indication, booting to a first selected special purpose operating system configured to provide the user-selected functionality; receiving a second indication from the user that a second, different selected functionality is to be provided; in response to receiving the second indication and while the first special purpose operating system is running, booting to a different selected special purpose operating system configured to provide the different user-selected functionality; while both special purpose operating systems are running, at least partially loading a general purpose operating system in the background; receiving a request for additional functionality at the first special purpose operating system; determining that the requested additional functionality cannot be provided by either of the special purpose operating systems; based on the determination, switching to the general purpose operating system that was at least partially loaded in the background while both of the special purpose operating systems are running, wherein the general purpose operating system is partially loaded to the extent necessary to perform the requested additional functionality; and performing the requested additional functionality by the general purpose operating system. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
Specification