What is a Windows Service and how does its lifecycle differ from a "standard" EXE?

Purpose:

• This is a basic filter to determine if a developer has an understanding of long running processes.
• Knowledge of windows services indicates a knowledge of the different user contexts code can run under and indicates past professional experience.
• A lack of awareness can point to serious unawareness of enterprise software principles

Potential Answer:
Windows services run as background processes on the OS. It is managed by the Service Control Manager which controls the life-cycle of the service in a particular security context. Since it runs as background process it is not visible to user. A standard exe is executed by user and runs by default in current users security context and interacts with user directly.