Abstract: A method and system for a platform wide party system that may be deployed in a multiplayer gaming environment. Players may associate themselves with one or more parties, wherein players within a party may choose to automatically exchange messages associated with changes in state of the players in a gaming environment. The party system exposes an API providing a plurality of function calls that may be integrated seamlessly with game play. A first player may indicate desired notification events to be received from a second player associated with the same party as the first player. Upon detection of a desired notification event on the video game console of the second player, an event notification may be communicated to a video game console of the first player causing an action to be performed on the first player's video game console.

Abstract: A method and system for allowing spectators to experience multimedia information over a network generated by an online video game running on a participant's device comprises a participant system and a universal spectator client system. A participant may utilize a device to experience game play. Each spectator may also have an associated device, which may allow the spectator to receive multimedia information generated by the participant system over a network. A spectator may experience multimedia information generated by a participant regardless of whether the spectator has the same title installed on an associated device and regardless of whether the associated spectator device provides the same capabilities and functionality as the participant device.

Abstract: Disclosed is an application programming interface (API) that provides for an extensible avatar system. In one embodiment an API may allow video game applications to retrieve structures of data which represent an avatar. The game can then take those structures and incorporate the data into its own rendering system. In another embodiment an API may allow a video game application to render an avatar to a render target or texture wherein the video game system performs rendering and animation functions.

Abstract: An avatar along with its accessories, emotes, and animations may be system provided and omnipresent. In this manner, the avatar and its accessories, emotes, and animations may be available across multiple environments provided or exposed by multiple avatar computing applications, such as computer games, chats, forums, communities, or instant messaging services. An avatar system may change the avatar and its accessories, emotes, and animations, e.g. pursuant to a request from the user, instructions from an avatar computing application, or updates provided by software associated with a computing device. The avatar and its accessories, emotes, and animations may be changed by a system or computing application associated with a computing device outside of a computer game or computing environment in which the avatar may be rendered or used by the user.

Abstract: Described is a system and method that facilitates fast and reliable synchronization of computer/file system directories. A synchronization (FastSync) subsystem operates in a discovery/enumeration phase to provide a calling client with a set of the differences between directories, and then operates in an action phase to perform operations as directed by the client to synchronize the different directories. The discovery/enumeration and action phases use parallel operation and I/O (input/output) pipelining. Multiple threads are used during enumeration to enumerate each directory's children, and enqueues each sub-directory to be handled by a new thread. During the action phase, when an operation is requested, the FastSync subsystem packages up the operation, item pointer, and context information into an internal context block and queues that packet as a work item for a process thread pool to handle.

Abstract: An improved remote protocol enables efficient and reliable updating of files on a remote server. A gather-copy extension to a remote protocol enables a client to instruct a server to gather portions of data from an existing source file on the server and to copy those portions of data to appropriate offsets within a new destination file on the server. The gather-copy extension thus enables the client to leave blank locations in the destination file into which the client can write new data during a file update. The gather-copy extension also enables the client to effectively delete portions of the source file by not copying them from the source file to the destination file. File updates can therefore be made without having to transfer the entire file from the client to the server.

Abstract: Various aspects are disclosed herein for an architecture for online communal and connected experiences. This architecture can be embodied in an application running a host computing device, where the application provides functionalities such as finding modules on local devices or hosted on online services, launching such modules, switching between a plurality of such concurrently running modules, and providing many-to-many text, voice, and video functionality. This application can also interface with managed runtime code on the host computing device, thereby providing inputting, outputting, and network communication means among a plurality of computing devices having different platforms.

Abstract: Described is a system and method that facilitates fast and reliable synchronization of computer/file system directories. A synchronization (FastSync) subsystem operates in a discovery/enumeration phase to provide a calling client with a set of the differences between directories, and then operates in an action phase to perform operations as directed by the client to synchronize the different directories. The discovery/enumeration and action phases use parallel operation and I/O (input/output) pipelining. Multiple threads are used during enumeration to enumerate each directory's children, and enqueues each sub-directory to be handled by a new thread. During the action phase, when an operation is requested, the FastSync subsystem packages up the operation, item pointer, and context information into an internal context block and queues that packet as a work item for a process thread pool to handle.

Abstract: An improved remote protocol enables efficient and reliable updating of files on a remote server. A gather-copy extension to a remote protocol enables a client to instruct a server to gather portions of data from an existing source file on the server and to copy those portions of data to appropriate offsets within a new destination file on the server. The gather-copy extension thus enables the client to leave blank locations in the destination file into which the client can write new data during a file update. The gather-copy extension also enables the client to effectively delete portions of the source file by not copying them from the source file to the destination file. File updates can therefore be made without having to transfer the entire file from the client to the server.