Fast switching between multiple user sessions

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, systems and computer program product for instantiating user sessions in a terminal server environment in such a way as to accomplish fast switching between multiple user sessions while all user sessions are fully isolated from one another. The methods can embody a communication method wherein a user's credentials are used to identify the instances of system resources, for example, applications, that a user is using. This grouping can be referred to as a context, which may be associated with a particular user session. Independent communication mechanisms or pathways with window server for each context can be created and maintained. A bootstrap component can be created in such a manner that a logical barrier between user sessions is initiated and maintained; each instance of a given application thereby will be associated with a specific context. Additional control of information flow between bootstrap processes can be provided via a gateway, which may also manage communication between the components of the operating system and local user input/output agents.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.