Abstract: A deployment system allows an administrator to convert virtual deployments to physical deployments so that an administrator can easily move between the virtual and physical world. The deployment system allows an administrator to directly deploy an operating system image in the form of a VHD file to the hard disks of a physical machine as a directly bootable and natively installed operating system. Thus, the deployment system relieves administrators from separately managing physical and virtual deployment images. Instead, administrators can manage only virtual deployment images and convert virtual images to physical deployments as needed.

Abstract: A shared storage system is described herein that is based on an append-only model of updating a storage device to allow multiple computers to access storage with lighter-weight synchronization than traditional systems and to reduce wear on flash-based storage devices. Appending data allows multiple computers to write to the same storage device without interference and without synchronization between the computers. Computers can also safely read a written page without using synchronization because the system limits how data can be changed once written. The system may record a log of append operations performed and ensure idempotence by storing a key specified by the caller in the log along with each log entry. The system also provides broadcasts about appended data to computers so that coordination between computers can occur without direct communication between the computers.

Abstract: A dynamic verification system is described that enables application developers to safely include significant custom business logic in their applications. The dynamic verification system receives application behavior criteria that specify behavior of an application of interest to an application host. The system executes an application and instruments an application execution environment to detect application behavior that meets the application behavior criteria. The system determines when the application has performed an action that satisfies the application behavior criteria and provides a notification about the application behavior that occurred that a system administrator can use to take action against the application.

Abstract: An authorization system determines a user's permission to access an object implicitly based on relationships in a data-driven model. The system provides the ability to mark a relationship type in the model between one object class (accessor) and another object class (accessed) as an implicit authorization relationship type. A user can define the permissions granted to the accessor object on the accessed object. When an accessor object tries to access a related accessed object over an authorization relationship type, the authorization system determines the permissions granted by inspecting the implicit authorization relationship type definition. The authorization system can also traverse containment relationship types to grant objects permissions contained by other objects.

Abstract: A content display system is described herein that combines the positive attributes of brushes and web content by allowing web content to be applied as a brush. The content display system renders web content and creates a bitmap of the rendered web content. The bitmap of the web content as rendered by a web host is captured and used as the pixels for a web brush. The brush can be used wherever other types of brushes can be used. In some embodiments, the brush content is refreshed under control of the application. Web content provided through a brush is much more versatile than simply compositing rendered HTML with other visuals. Thus, the content display system allows applications to display web content inside an application sandbox or other platform using the familiar form to application developers of a brush.

Abstract: An offline trust system establishes a trust relationship between a trust authority computer system and a target computer system without relying on an active network connection between the computer systems. The offline trust system separates the trust establishment operation into a provisioning phase and a configuration phase. The provisioning phase can be performed entirely on the trust authority, while the configuration phase can be performed entirely on the target computer system requesting trust. The two phases can be performed at different times and do not assume any connection between the two computer systems. An administrator may perform the provisioning phase for many target computer systems at the same time. Thus, the offline trust system provides a way to establish trust between computer systems that is more reliable and less prone to failure.

Abstract: A dynamic highlighting system initially applies a high-level highlight to occurrences of one or more keywords in a search result that fades to a low-level highlight effect. The system receives search results from a search engine and identifies occurrences of keywords in the search results. The system applies a first highlight effect to identified occurrences of the keywords and displays the search results incorporating the highlighted keywords. Upon detecting the occurrence of a highlighting change event, such as the expiration of a timer, the system applies a second highlight effect to the displayed search results. The second highlight effect may include removing the highlight or displaying a muted highlight effect. Thus, the dynamic highlighting system provides an initial noticeable highlight that fades to a level that is still noticeable but is less likely to distract the user from other elements of the user interface.

Abstract: A graph traversal system is described herein that efficiently identifies strongly connected components with entries, exits, and corresponding edges at the same time. Entry and exit nodes can be recognized by scanning every node after the strongly connected components have been identified, but revisiting these nodes incurs undesirable overhead. The graph traversal system identifies entries and exits during a single pass while the strongly connected components are being identified. In addition, the system modifies the semantics for some applications so that a single node all alone is not considered to be a strongly connected component. Thus, the graph traversal system allows efficient identification of entries to and exits from strongly connected components in a manner that can be applied to a variety of computer software problems that use directed graphs for data structures.

Abstract: A natural input system is described for creating and editing complex structures in a typeset application. The natural input system receives a typeset representation of an object and converts the typeset format to generate a standard digital ink representation. The natural input system provides the generated ink representation to a natural input application where can be manipulated by the user with a rich set of correction and editing features provided by the natural input application. Once the end user is satisfied with the recognition result in the natural input application, the natural input system receives the recognition result based on the modified digital ink representation. The natural input system may convert the received recognition result to the typeset application format and provides the modified typeset representation to the typeset application for merging into the document the user is editing.

Abstract: A programmable graphical display switch is described herein that provides users with a way of controlling other devices and for customizing how that control is initiated and communicated to a user.

Abstract: A multi-model magnification system is described that can be used with multiple forms of input, including natural input such as touch-based devices. Users can zoom in/out and pan with their preferred mode of interaction, including mouse, keyboard, pen, and touch interactions. The system provides dedicated features for some modes, such as pinch/scroll gestures for touch input, that allow users to easily zoom in/out and pan the magnified area (e.g., on a touch laptop). The system provides an interactive panning mode in which the user the user can interact with the desktop or applications (e.g., clicking on icons) and pan using special gestures. When the system is in the panning mode, the system consumes received gestures or other input, otherwise the system passes received input to a magnified application.

Abstract: A stability monitoring system is described that provides an accurate, automated, and remote way of monitoring small movements over a large surface area without the need to pre-place reflective targets using a mobile SAR. The stability monitoring system allows the rapid, automated identification and measurement of small surface movements over a wide field of view from a safe standoff distance without the need for personnel working in hazardous zones. Using this data, authorities can more accurately identify hazard areas and efficiently allocate mitigation resources.

Abstract: A scalable locking system is described herein that allows processors to access shared data with reduced cache contention to increase parallelism and scalability. The system provides a reader/writer lock implementation that uses randomization and spends extra space to spread possible contention over multiple cache lines. The system avoids updates to a single shared location in acquiring/releasing a read lock by spreading the lock count over multiple sub-counts in multiple cache lines, and hashing thread identifiers to those cache lines. Carefully crafted invariants allow the use of partially lock-free code in the common path of acquisition and release of a read lock. A careful protocol allows the system to reuse space allocated for a read lock for subsequent locking to avoid frequent reallocating of read lock data structures. The system also provides fairness for write-locking threads and uses object pooling techniques to make reduce costs associated with the lock data structures.

Abstract: A conflict resolution system is described for reducing false conflicts among entities synchronized within a content management system. A typical content management system maintains a version for an entity that is incremented each time an endpoint modifies the entity, including changes that affect the metadata rather than the content of the entity. The conflict resolution system adds a new content version that is updated when the content of the entity changes. By comparing content version information, endpoints can automatically resolve false conflicts that occur when an endpoint has modified the metadata of the entity.

Abstract: A magnifier panning system is described that creates a panning region at the edges of a magnified view. When a user moves the cursor into the panning region, the system pans the magnified view. When the user is not in the panning region, the user can interact with objects in the magnified view without the view shifting around. The objects appear magnified, but they do not behave or move any differently than they would if they were not magnified, providing the user with a familiar and comfortable user experience. Thus, the magnifier panning system provides the user with a much more natural view for interacting with the displayed objects while still allowing an efficient way to pan the view to move the magnified view to a different area of the screen.

Abstract: An exception notification system is described herein that provides an early notification that a software exception has occurred before exception handling code has run. The exception notification system receives a registration request from program code to register a handler to receive an early notification when an exception occurs. When an exception occurs, the system raises an event that calls each registered handler. After the handler returns, the system performs normal exception handling, so that the early notification does not change existing exception-handling behavior. The exception notification system allows a program to inspect and log an exception before the program state has been modified by exception handling. The program code can capture detailed information about the cause of the exception to enable further offline analysis. Thus, the exception notification system allows developers to improve their programs by receiving more information about unexpected conditions in the program code.

Abstract: A load balancing system is described herein that proactively balances client requests among multiple destination servers using information about anticipated loads or events on each destination server to inform the load balancing decision. The system detects one or more upcoming events that will affect the performance and/or capacity for handling requests of a destination server. Upon detecting the event, the system informs the load balancer to drain connections around the time of the event. Next, the event occurs on the destination server, and the system detects when the event is complete. In response, the system informs the load balancer to restore connections to the destination server. In this way, the system is able to redirect clients to other available destination servers before the tasks occur. Thus, the load balancing system provides more efficient routing of client requests and improves responsiveness.

Abstract: A live caching system is described herein that reduces the burden on origin servers for serving live content. In response to receiving a first request that results in a cache miss, the system forwards the first request to the next tier while “holding” other requests for the same content. If the system receives a second request while the first request is pending, the system will recognize that a similar request is outstanding and hold the second request by not forwarding the request to the origin server. After the response to the first request arrives from the next tier, the system shares the response with other held requests. Thus, the live caching system allows a content provider to prepare for very large events by adding more cache hardware and building out a cache server network rather than by increasing the capacity of the origin server.

Abstract: This circuit is a back terminated transmission line driver which dissipates no outgoing power across its back terminating resistor by using both a voltage source and a current source.

Abstract: A flexible compliance system is described herein that provides a deployable system health agent and automated remediation of computer system compliance failures based on configurable compliance rules. An administrator defines rules that represent compliance elements that the flexible compliance system will enforce. The flexible compliance system reads the rules defined by the administrator like a flexible set of conditions to check, and checks client computer systems based on the rules. The flexible compliance system generates a statement of health that indicates whether the computer system satisfies or violates each rule. In response to the statement of health, the flexible compliance system may take various actions with respect to a computer system in violation of a rule, including attempting to resolve the violation or quarantining the computer system to avoid interaction with other computer systems.