Microsoft Submits Multi-Booting Patent Application

Back In August 2010 I ran a story on a new feature of Windows 8 called Direct Experience Mode which basically meant that the operating system would be able to load different modes depending on use. A basic example would be a video DVD inserted into the drive before boot. Instead of booting into the operating system to play the video DVD, the Direct Experience Mode would quick load a video player directly to speed up the user experience.
Microsoft back in January applied for a new patent. FAST BOOTING A COMPUTING DEVICE TO A SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE appears to be a variant of the Direct Computing Experience patent.

The patent describes a booting process that loads a virtual machine manager which decides which general or specific purpose operating system module gets loaded. The chart shows four specific purpose modules including TV, Music and DVD usage as well as one general purpose operating system.

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.

It is very likely that the patent is directly related to Windows 8′s Direct Experience Mode. Microsoft has not confirmed or denied the availability of the mode in Windows 8.
The patent application Summary offers details on the process. Microsoft describes that it is possible to load another partition, which is one of the available operating system modules, may be loaded while another is running. It is then possible to switch between the two partitions once they are fully loaded. An interesting option would be to load into a fast booting email client or messenger before switching to the fully loaded general purpose operating system. (via)