semi-arcane windows and mac programming question

[zwol]

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.

Comments

[aldren.livejournal.com]

For Windows, it sounds like you want Remote Desktop with persistent sessions. I have no idea how one would go about setting this up, but I seem to recall this is a normal mode of operation. I also think you're generally limited to 1-2 other logons without buying more licenses.

As for the Mac, well, you might be able to fudge something with multiple user logons, but I highly doubt that. From what I've seen, it tends to disable graphics output for programs in the background. Which may or may not be a problem, really. Overall, remote graphical support is severely lacking in OS X,

[zwol.livejournal.com]

Your use of the word "persistent" worries me; this should ideally be possible to set up when needed and tear down afterward, without administrative privileges. Remote access isn't necessary; the driver runs on the same host as the application that needs its screen I/O intercepted.