UNIFYING APPLICATION LAUNCHERS AND SWITCHERS
First Claim
1. One or more computer-readable media have computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of intelligently presenting (1) buttons that correspond to one or more running windows and (2) a set of application launchers that launch instances of software applications, the method comprising:
- receiving an indication that an instance of a software application has been invoked by a launching mechanism, which leads to creating a windowed process in which to present the instance of the software application;
determining that at least one of the application launchers was the launching mechanism;
automatically removing the at least one of the launchers from view irrespective of a state of said windowed process, wherein said state includes at least one of maximized, minimized, and in between; and
presenting a button that corresponds to the windowed process, the button being operable to present the windowed process.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention provide a method, system, and media for intelligently presenting buttons that correspond to running windows as well as a set of application launchers that launch instances of software applications. One version of the method includes receiving an indication that an instance of a software application has been invoked by a launching mechanism, which leads to creating a windowed process in which to present the instance of the software application; determining that at least one of the application launchers was the launching mechanism; automatically removing the launcher(s) from view; and presenting a button that corresponds to the windowed process.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. One or more computer-readable media have computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of intelligently presenting (1) buttons that correspond to one or more running windows and (2) a set of application launchers that launch instances of software applications, the method comprising:
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receiving an indication that an instance of a software application has been invoked by a launching mechanism, which leads to creating a windowed process in which to present the instance of the software application; determining that at least one of the application launchers was the launching mechanism; automatically removing the at least one of the launchers from view irrespective of a state of said windowed process, wherein said state includes at least one of maximized, minimized, and in between; and presenting a button that corresponds to the windowed process, the button being operable to present the windowed process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computer-implemented method of intelligently presenting (1) buttons that correspond to one or more running windows and (2) application launchers that launch instances of software applications, wherein the presenting occurs in an environment where a certain single process can host multiple instances of an application, the method comprising:
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receiving a request to present in a window an instance of a hosted application, the hosted application being an application running within a first host process that is capable of hosting multiple applications, including multiple instances of a same application, such that the instances cannot be distinguished by inspecting only an executable file that spawned the process; associating a first application identifier with the window; receiving a request to present on a graphical user interface a button that is operable to select the window; inspecting a set of application launchers to determine whether any of them led to creating the window; identifying at least one application launcher of the set of application launchers that led to creating the window; hiding the at least one launcher; and presenting a button that is operable to present the window. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. One or more computer-readable media have computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of providing for managing visual indications of items running on a computing device, the method comprising:
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providing a first launching mechanism that is operable to launch an application, wherein the first launching mechanism is associated with a plurality of properties; populating at least one of the plurality of properties of the first launching mechanism with a first application identifier such that a windowed process, which was launched by the first launching mechanism, can be unambiguously identified by way of the first application identifier; and storing the first application identifier, (1) wherein the first application identifier can serve as a reference to determine whether a second launching mechanism is the same as the first launching mechanism by inspecting a second application identifier that is associated with the second launching mechanism, and (2) wherein a matching of the first and second application identifiers indicates that the first launching mechanism is the same as the second launching mechanism, such that visual indications of items running on a computing device can be grouped together based, at least in part, on the first application identifier. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification