System and method for managing software applications in a graphical user interface

• US 20110173556A1
• Filed: 03/22/2011
• Published: 07/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Meyers, Brian, Smith, Greg, Baudisch, Patrick Markus, Robbins, Daniel C., Robertson, George G., Czerwinski, Mary
• Granted Patent: US 9,933,911 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/771
• 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

Abstract

A system and method for managing software application windows in a graphical user interface having a desktop and taskbar display area are provided. Each instantiated program is represented as one or more graphical windows in the desktop and as a control tile in the taskbar. Control tiles are grouped into control tile groups that facilitate organization and single access control. Project control tile groups allow the grouping of multiple software applications. Additionally, minimized control tile group layout and state may be preserved and previewed prior to being restored.

Claims

1. A method for managing at least two software applications in a computer system including a display, wherein the software applications are represented as graphical windows in a first portion of the display and as graphic controls on a second portion of the display when the software applications are instantiated on the computer system, the method comprising:

obtaining an indication to organize a first graphic control corresponding to a first software application and a second graphic control corresponding to a second software application;

grouping the first and second graphic controls on the second portion of the display; and

displaying the first and second graphic controls as a group within the second portion of the display.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein obtaining an indication to organize the first and second graphic controls includes receiving from a user at least a partial graphically drawn shape around the first and second graphic controls.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein obtaining an indication to organize the first and second graphic controls includes encompassing, at least partially, the first and second graphic controls by a geometric selection tool.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a single user action to act upon the first and second graphic controls in the group; and

performing, upon the receiving, the single user action to the at least two software applications substantially simultaneously.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a single user action to act upon the first and second graphic controls in the group; and

arranging the graphical windows of the software applications in a predefined layout based on the single user action, the layout including one of cascading, tiling, single window centralizing, or equal division of open windows.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

generating a record of the layout of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software applications;

storing the record of the layout of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software applications;

generating a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display; and

specifying a location for restoration of the graphical windows.

7. A method for managing a plurality of software applications executed on a computer system including a display, wherein the display includes a desktop for displaying graphical windows and taskbar for controlling the software applications and wherein the plurality of software applications are represented as graphical windows on a desktop portion of the display and as control tiles on a taskbar portion of the display when instantiated on the computer system, the method comprising:

obtaining an indication to group a first control tile corresponding to a first software application and a second control tile corresponding to a second software application;

grouping the first and second control tiles on the taskbar portion of the display; and

displaying the first and second control tiles as a group within the taskbar portion of the display.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising collapsing, by an operating environment, the control tile group based on available display space on the taskbar or based on available space on the desktop portion of the display.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising collapsing, by an operating environment, the control tile group based on a frequency of access of the first or second control tiles or based on a user defined collapsing priority.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the operating environment collapses the control tile group when the frequency of access of the control tile group is below a preset threshold or when the control tile group has been accessed fewer times than other control tile groups.

11. The method as recited in claim 7 further comprising:

generating a record of the layout of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software applications;

storing the record of the layout of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software applications;

generating a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display; and

manipulating the preview to specify dimensions of the graphical windows.

12. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising generating a record of the layout of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software applications;

storing the record of the layout of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software applications; and

generating a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display,

wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display includes displaying one of a reduced size representation, a full size representation, or a semi-transparent representation of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the desktop portion of the display.

13. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for performing the method recited in claim 7.

14. A computer system for managing a plurality of software applications, the system comprising:

means for displaying two or more software applications as graphical windows when the two or more software applications are instantiated on the computer system;

means for displaying two or more control tiles corresponding two or more software applications when the two or more software applications are instantiated on the computer system; and

means for displaying the two or more control tiles as group in response to an indication to organize the first and second control tiles.

15. The system as recited in claim 14, further comprising means for forming, based on an action, a software application group comprising the plurality of software applications by creating a control tile group comprising the two or more control tiles, each of the control tiles in the control tile group corresponding to one of the software applications in the software application group.

16. The system as recited in claim 14, further comprising means for executing a single user action upon a subset of the control tile group, where the act of executing comprises performing the single user action to each of the software applications in the software application group substantially simultaneously based on the subset of the control tile group.

17. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the means for displaying the two or more control tiles as a group includes means for displaying the two or more control tiles as a project for toggling the software applications corresponding to the two or more control tiles between a minimized and a restored state.

18. The system as recited in claim 14, further comprising means for executing a single user action upon a subset of the control tile group, where the act of executing comprises toggling a first group of software applications with a second group of software applications between a minimized and a restored state, the first group of software applications being in a minimized state when the second group of software applications are in a restored state, and the first group of software applications being in a restored state when the second group of software applications are in a minimized state.

19. The system as recited in claim 18 further comprising means for storing state information corresponding to the two or more software applications and means for displaying, restoring, and previewing a time-dependent representation of the project, wherein the state information includes at least one of user information, version information, and contextual information.

20. The system as recited in claim 14 further comprising:

means for obtaining an indication to collapse the two or more control tiles into the group control tile;

means for displaying the group solely as a group control tile;

means for obtaining an indication to remove two or more control tiles from the group; and

means for displaying the two or more control tiles removed from the group as separate control tiles.