Patent ID: 8115942

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising a first system, a second system, and an output engine, and configured to process input data via the first system and the second system and to output the processed data as an image via the output engine, wherein the first system comprises: a first communication unit configured to communicate with the second system; a detection unit configured to detect whether the second system is in a processing-disabled state; a virtual environment activation unit configured to activate a virtual environment running on the first system if the detection unit detects that the second system is in the processing-disabled state; and a first image processing unit configured to perform image processing under the virtual environment, wherein the second system comprises: a second communication unit configured to communicate with the first system; a second image processing unit configured to perform image processing on data received from the first system; and an output engine control unit configured to control the output engine, and wherein the output engine is configured to output the processed data as an image under control of the output engine control unit.