What can I do with a Windows Service that with a normal application I can't do?

Wikipedia: On Microsoft Windows operating systems, a Windows service is a long-running executable that performs specific functions and which is designed not to require user intervention. Windows services can be configured to start when the operating system is booted and run in the background as long as Windows is running, or they can be started manually when required.

but I can create a application that run in the background as long as Windows开发者_如何学JAVA is running also without a Windows Service ( I can set the Run key in the registry for example ).

So my question is:

What can I do with a Windows Service that with a normal application I can't do ?

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Running without any interactive user logged on for example. Calling LogonUser to impersonate other users ( normally is not allowed without changing the privileges on standard applications) Having some benefit from service control manager, as Recovery actions in case of failure.

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There are numerous advantages

• Support for MWI Remote Starting/Stopping of services monitoring
• OS support for Failover/ notification
• SOA by default
• OS support for autostart