On Windows and/or MacOSX, is there any way, not involving the installation of third-party software, to duplicate the functionality of Xvfb? The interesting characteristics of Xvfb, for this discussion, are that a GUIful application running under it:
- is invisible to the user and cannot interfere with the user's ability to continue using their desktop;
- cannot distinguish its state from that of an application left displayed on a computer with no human interacting with it.
The second point is critical; it's not good enough to be able to arrange for an invisible window, if the application can detect that its window is not "the" current foreground window! (This is for some fairly involved automated testing that involves manipulating which window is the current foreground; presently one has to set the thing going and literally walk away from the computer.)
I'm aware of window stations and desktops on Windows but I can't tell whether either of them has this characteristic, and I can't find anything for Mac.
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