Abstract: A system and method of inter-process communication are described. An IPC process executable by a processing device includes data storage, a message receiver, a data extractor, and a message transmitter. The data storage is accessible by a second process without interaction of the IPC process and is configured to enable the second process to allocate storage space for data from a third process. The message receiver is configured to receive a message including a reference to data stored in the data storage by the third process. The data extractor is configured to access the data storage and to retrieve the data referenced by the message received by the message receiver. The message transmitter is configured to transmit a message including a reference to data retrieved by the data extractor.

Abstract: An exemplary method for handling a hidden dialog in a media centered graphical user environment is presented including: detecting the hidden dialog; determining whether the hidden dialog is an approved dialog; if the hidden dialog is an approved dialog, providing a notification to a user of the hidden dialog such that the media centered graphical user environment is interrupted; and if the hidden dialog is not an approved dialog, ignoring the hidden dialog such that the media centered graphical user environment is uninterrupted. In some embodiments, the hidden dialog originates from any WINDOWS™ compatible program. In some embodiments, the hidden dialog is a pop-up notification. In some embodiments, the approved dialog is user configurable. In some embodiments, the approved dialog may be: a programmatic subscription dialog, a programmatic update dialog, a programmatic alert dialog, and a system alert dialog.

Abstract: A system for optimizing an operating system startup process is described. The system includes a performance monitoring tool arranged to monitor a performance parameter of a computer system and a startup control tool arranged to control startup initiation of processes based on the performance parameter monitored by the performance monitoring tool. A method of optimizing an operating system startup process is described. A computer system performance parameter is monitored. Execution of a predetermined process by the computer system is enabled if the computer system performance is outside a predetermined threshold.