Method and system of taskbar button interfaces

• US 20060123353A1
• Filed: 12/08/2004
• Published: 06/08/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Matthews, David A., Stabb, Charles W., Pettiross, Jeffrey W., Cummins, Charles, Ligameri, Mark R., Shi, Yeming, Kumar, R. Syam
• Granted Patent: US 7,665,031 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/779
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports

Abstract

The present invention provides a system or method for displaying rich presentation taskbar buttons for a corresponding application. In one example, the rich presentation taskbar button may receive content from an application through a programming interface. The present invention further relates to a system and method for displaying a rich presentation taskbar button and for displaying and/or dismissing a thumbnail of an application window associated with the rich presentation taskbar button. The present invention may further include a system and method of pinning the thumbnail on a display or dismissing a thumbnail. The present invention also relates to a system and method for displaying multiple taskbar buttons in a taskbar including controlling the size of individual taskbar buttons, consolidating taskbar buttons and placing taskbar buttons into an overflow based on the type of taskbar button in the taskbar.

Claims

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said display element comprises dynamic information.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said dynamic information is selected from the group consisting of securities information, weather information, sports information, news event information, auction information, instant messaging information, application status information, and buddy list information.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said dynamic information is application status information comprising a progress meter, said progress meter comprising a progress bar that actively indicates the progression of an operation performed by the application.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein said dynamic information is instant messaging information comprising a portion of a conversation thread.

25-1. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

creating a simple taskbar button for the application;

displaying the simple taskbar button in place of the displayed rich presentation taskbar button if a window corresponding to the application is displayed on the display.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising:

removing the display of at least a portion of the window corresponding to the application;

displaying the rich presentation taskbar button in place of the simple taskbar button after said removing step.

26-2. A system for displaying a taskbar button on a taskbar comprising:

a processor for creating a rich presentation taskbar button to be displayed, said rich presentation taskbar button being associated with an application;

a programming interface for receiving content to be displayed in the rich presentation taskbar button from the application, said content to be displayed comprising a display element authored by said application;

a display for displaying said rich presentation taskbar button, the displayed rich presentation taskbar button comprising the display element authored by the application.

27. A computer-readable medium comprising executable code for performing the steps of:

creating a rich presentation taskbar button for an application;

receiving content to be displayed in the rich presentation taskbar button from the application, said content to be displayed being associated with said application and comprising a display element authored by said application;

displaying said rich presentation taskbar button, the displayed rich presentation taskbar button comprising the display element authored by the application.

28. In a computer system with a display, a graphical user interface comprising an rich presentation taskbar button comprising an interactive control display element, said rich presentation taskbar button being associated with an application.

29. The graphical user interface of claim 28 wherein the interactive control display element comprises an element for controlling the operation of said application.

30. The graphical user interface of claim 28 wherein the interactive control display element comprises dynamic information.

31. The graphical user interface of claim 28 wherein a window corresponding to the application is obscured on the display by another display element.

32. The graphical user interface of claim 28 wherein the application is a media player application and the interactive control display element is a transport control interface.

33. The graphical user interface of claim 28 wherein the application is an instant messaging application and wherein the interactive control display element receives and displays text input.

34. The graphical user interface of claim 33 wherein the rich presentation taskbar button further comprises at least a portion of an incoming message.

35. In a computer system with a display device, a method of displaying a thumbnail corresponding to a taskbar button comprising:

displaying a taskbar button associated with an application;

receiving thumbnail content information corresponding to the application and displaying a thumbnail corresponding to the thumbnail content information.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein said step of displaying a thumbnail is performed when a cursor is hovered over a predetermined location on the taskbar button.

37. The method of claim 36 further comprising dismissing the displayed thumbnail when the cursor is moved away from said predetermined location.

38. The method of claim 36 wherein the displayed thumbnail remains displayed when the cursor is moved away from said predetermined location.

39. The method of claim 36 further comprising dismissing the displayed thumbnail after a predetermined display element is selected.

40. The method of claim 35 wherein said step of displaying a thumbnail is performed when a cursor is activated over a predetermined location on the taskbar button.