Abstract: One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for suspending logically related processes associated with an application, determining whether to resume a suspended process based upon one or more wake policies, and/or managing an application state of an application, such as timer and/or system message data. That is, logically related processes associated with an application, such as child processes, may be identified and suspended based upon logical relationships between the processes (e.g., a logical container hierarchy may be traversed to identify logically related processes). A suspended process may be resumed based upon a set of wake policies. For example, a suspended process may be resumed based upon an inter-process communication call policy that may be triggered by an application attempting to communicate with the suspended process. Application data may be managed while an application is suspended so that the application may be resumed in a current and/or relevant state.

Abstract: Anti-malware process protection techniques are described. In one or more implementations, an anti-malware process is launched. The anti-malware process is verified based at least in part on an anti-malware driver that contains certificate pairs which contain an identity that is signed with the trusted certificate from a verified source. After the anti-malware process is verified, the anti-malware process may be assigned a protection level, and an administrative user may be prevented from altering the anti-malware process.

Abstract: A firmware update system is described that collectively handles firmware updates for hardware resources of a computing device. The firmware update system may be configured to handle firmware updates in a consistent manner across different computing platforms/architectures. A data structure is defined to associate each updateable resource with a corresponding identifier to enumerate the updateable resources to the firmware update system. The firmware update system may reference the data structure to produce representations of the each individual resource that provide an operating system level abstraction through which detection, analysis, acquisition, deployment, installation, and tracking of firmware updates is managed. Using the representations, the firmware update system operates to discover available firmware updates collectively for the enumerated resources, match the updates to appropriate resources, and initiate installation of the updates.

Abstract: One or more systems and/or techniques are provided for background task management. A background manager may receive a notification from a background task that the background task is waiting for an event, and may also receive a waitable object from the background task, where the waitable object is used by the background task to wait for the event. Responsive to the waitable object not being triggered within a period of time, the background manager may implement a power management policy for a computing device hosting the background task.

Abstract: Anti-malware process protection techniques are described. In one or more implementations, an anti-malware process is launched. The anti-malware process is verified based at least in part on an anti-malware driver that contains certificate pairs which contain an identity that is signed with the trusted certificate from a verified source. After the anti-malware process is verified, the anti-malware process may be assigned a protection level, and an administrative user may be prevented from altering the anti-malware process.

Abstract: Various systems and methods for translating operating system processes are described herein. In one example, a method includes intercepting a process of a foreign operating system through a proxy driver. The method can also include translating the process to a native operating system within which the foreign operating system is operating. Furthermore, the method can include sharing memory between the native operating system and the foreign operating system for translation.

Abstract: Anti-malware process protection techniques are described. In one or more implementations, an anti-malware process is launched. The anti-malware process is verified based at least in part on an anti-malware driver that contains certificates which contain an identity that is signed with the trusted certificate from a verified source. After the anti-malware process is verified, the anti-malware process may be assigned a protection level, and an administrative user may be prevented from altering the anti-malware process.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and apparatus for separately loading and managing foreground work and background work of an application. In some embodiments, a method is provided for use by an operating system executing on at least one computer. The operating system may identify at least one foreground component and at least one background component of an application, and may load the at least one foreground component for execution separately from the at least one background component. For example, the operating system may execute the at least one foreground component without executing the at least one background component. In some further embodiments, the operating system may use a specification associated with the application to identify at least one piece of computer executable code implementing the at least one background component.

Abstract: A firmware update system is described that collectively handles firmware updates for hardware resources of a computing device. The firmware update system may be configured to handle firmware updates in a consistent manner across different computing platforms/architectures. A data structure is defined to associate each updateable resource with a corresponding identifier to enumerate the updateable resources to the firmware update system. The firmware update system may reference the data structure to produce representations of the each individual resource that provide an operating system level abstraction through which detection, analysis, acquisition, deployment, installation, and tracking of firmware updates is managed. Using the representations, the firmware update system operates to discover available firmware updates collectively for the enumerated resources, match the updates to appropriate resources, and initiate installation of the updates.

Abstract: A firmware update system is described that collectively handles firmware updates for hardware resources of a computing device. The firmware update system may be configured to handle firmware updates in a consistent manner across different computing platforms/architectures. A data structure is defined to associate each updateable resource with a corresponding identifier to enumerate the updateable resources to the firmware update system. The firmware update system may reference the data structure to produce representations of the each individual resource that provide an operating system level abstraction through which detection, analysis, acquisition, deployment, installation, and tracking of firmware updates is managed. Using the representations, the firmware update system operates to discover available firmware updates collectively for the enumerated resources, match the updates to appropriate resources, and initiate installation of the updates.

Abstract: A firmware update system is described that collectively handles firmware updates for hardware resources of a computing device. The firmware update system may be configured to handle firmware updates in a consistent manner across different computing platforms/architectures. A data structure is defined to associate each updateable resource with a corresponding identifier to enumerate the updateable resources to the firmware update system. The firmware update system may reference the data structure to produce representations of the each individual resource that provide an operating system level abstraction through which detection, analysis, acquisition, deployment, installation, and tracking of firmware updates is managed. Using the representations, the firmware update system operates to discover available firmware updates collectively for the enumerated resources, match the updates to appropriate resources, and initiate installation of the updates.

Abstract: Anti-malware process protection techniques are described. In one or more implementations, an anti-malware driver is signed using a hash that identifies a manufacturer of the anti-malware driver. The anti-malware driver is then provided to a computing device. The anti-malware driver may be assigned a protection level based on an agreement between the anti-malware manufacturer and an operating system manufacturer, and this protection level effects the operation of the anti-malware program on the computing device.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and apparatus for separately loading and managing foreground work and background work of an application. In some embodiments, a method is provided for use by an operating system executing on at least one computer. The operating system may identify at least one foreground component and at least one background component of an application, and may load the at least one foreground component for execution separately from the at least one background component. For example, the operating system may execute the at least one foreground component without executing the at least one background component. In some further embodiments, the operating system may use a specification associated with the application to identify at least one piece of computer executable code implementing the at least one background component.

Abstract: A firmware update system is described that collectively handles firmware updates for hardware resources of a computing device. The firmware update system may be configured to handle firmware updates in a consistent manner across different computing platforms/architectures. A data structure is defined to associate each updateable resource with a corresponding identifier to enumerate the updateable resources to the firmware update system. The firmware update system may reference the data structure to produce representations of the each individual resource that provide an operating system level abstraction through which detection, analysis, acquisition, deployment, installation, and tracking of firmware updates is managed. Using the representations, the firmware update system operates to discover available firmware updates collectively for the enumerated resources, match the updates to appropriate resources, and initiate installation of the updates.

Abstract: Resume of a computing device from hibernation may be performed in multiple phases. Each phase may partially restore a state of the computing device to an operational state and may establish an environment in which another phase of the resume is performed. The hibernation information may be partitioned to store separately data to be used at each resume phase. The information may be stored in a compressed form. In a first phase, a boot-level resume loader may restore a portion of the operating system based on a portion of the hibernation information. The restored portion may be used in a second phase to retrieve hibernation information from another portion through the operating system (OS). Multiple processors supported by the OS may read and decompress the hibernation information that is then moved back to operational memory. The operating system may support asynchronous disk input/output or other functions that accelerate the resume process.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and apparatus for separately managing foreground work and background work. In some embodiments, an operating system may identify at least one foreground component and at least one background component of a same application or different applications, and may manage the execution of the components differently. For example, the operating system may receive a request that at least one background component of an application be executed in response to at least one event. In response to detecting an occurrence of the at least one event, the operating system may determine whether at least one first condition set by the application is satisfied and whether at least one second condition set by the operating system is satisfied, and may execute the at least one background component when it is determined that the at least one first and second conditions are satisfied following the occurrence of the at least one event.

Abstract: A firmware update system is described that collectively handles firmware updates for hardware resources of a computing device. The firmware update system may be configured to handle firmware updates in a consistent manner across different computing platforms/architectures. A data structure is defined to associate each updateable resource with a corresponding identifier to enumerate the updateable resources to the firmware update system. The firmware update system may reference the data structure to produce representations of the each individual resource that provide an operating system level abstraction through which detection, analysis, acquisition, deployment, installation, and tracking of firmware updates is managed. Using the representations, the firmware update system operates to discover available firmware updates collectively for the enumerated resources, match the updates to appropriate resources, and initiate installation of the updates.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and apparatus for separately loading and managing foreground work and background work of an application. In some embodiments, a method is provided for use by an operating system executing on at least one computer. The operating system may identify at least one foreground component and at least one background component of an application, and may load the at least one foreground component for execution separately from the at least one background component. For example, the operating system may execute the at least one foreground component without executing the at least one background component. In some further embodiments, the operating system may use a specification associated with the application to identify at least one piece of computer executable code implementing the at least one background component.

Abstract: A firmware update system is described that collectively handles firmware updates for hardware resources of a computing device. The firmware update system may be configured to handle firmware updates in a consistent manner across different computing platforms/architectures. A data structure is defined to associate each updateable resource with a corresponding identifier to enumerate the updateable resources to the firmware update system. The firmware update system may reference the data structure to produce representations of the each individual resource that provide an operating system level abstraction through which detection, analysis, acquisition, deployment, installation, and tracking of firmware updates is managed. Using the representations, the firmware update system operates to discover available firmware updates collectively for the enumerated resources, match the updates to appropriate resources, and initiate installation of the updates.

Abstract: Anti-malware process protection techniques are described. In one or more implementations, an anti-malware process is launched. The anti-malware process is verified based at least in part on an anti-malware driver that contains certificates which contain an identity that is signed with the trusted certificate from a verified source. After the anti-malware process is verified, the anti-malware process may be assigned a protection level, and an administrative user may be prevented from altering the anti-malware process.