Display of immersive and desktop shells

• US 9,843,665 B2
• Filed: 05/27/2011
• Issued: 12/12/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: LeVee, Brian S., Satterfield, Jesse Clay, Sareen, Chaitanya Dev, Nan, Jennifer, Miner, Patrice L., Steinglass, Alice P., Wong, Tsz Yan, Pittappilly, Theresa B., Osman, Heiwad Hamidy, Chen, Raymond J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Theriault, Steven B
• Application Number:
  US13/118,213
• Publication Number:
  US 20120304103A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,391 Days
• Field of Search: 715778, 715779
• 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 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons

Abstract

Desktop as an immersive application techniques are described. In one or more implementations, an immersive environment module is configured to provide an immersive shell through which a user may interact with applications of a computing device. The immersive environment module is further configured to provide a desktop shell within the immersive shell to support additional techniques for interaction with the application of the computing device. The desktop shell, for instance, may be configured for accessibility similar to that provided to applications in the immersive shell.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a notification from an application executed in a first shell of an operating system of a computing device, the first shell being displayed in a secondary region of a display of the computing device; and

displaying the notification within a second shell of the operating system of the computing device, independent of the application being viewable or a window of the application being viewable, upon receiving the notification, the second shell of the operating system is displayed in a primary region of the display of the computing device;

receiving a selection input of the notification;

responsive to the selection input of the notification, automatically moving the first shell into the primary region of the display and moving the second shell into a secondary region of the display, the primary region having a different size than the secondary region.

2. A method as described in claim 1, the first and second shells are displayed concurrently on the display of the computing device.

3. A method as described in claim 1, the first shell is accessible within the second shell of the operating system.

4. A method as described in claim 1, the first shell is treated as an application by the second shell.

5. A method as described in claim 1, the displaying is performed using a pop-up menu.

6. A method as described in claim 5, the pop-up menu is configured to be displayed for a pre-defined amount of time.

7. A method as described in claim 1, the first shell is not currently viewable in a user interface during the receiving.

8. A method as described in claim 1, the first shell is a desktop shell and the second shell is an immersive shell of the operating system.

9. A method as described in claim 8, the desktop shell employs a plurality of windows for at least one said application and the immersive shell supports a single window per application.

10. A method as described in claim 8, the desktop shell includes a display of a plurality of windows that correspond to a plurality of applications that are executable within the desktop shell.

11. A method comprising:

displaying an immersive shell of an operating system that is configured to support access to applications executed within the immersive shell;

simultaneously displaying a desktop shell within the immersive shell without framing the desktop shell with a window, the desktop shell being displayed as including a plurality of windows displayed within the desktop shell that correspond to a plurality of applications that are executed within the desktop shell;

enabling user input during the simultaneous display with applications executed within the immersive shell and with applications executed within the desktop shell;

receiving input indicating a direction in the immersive shell; and

responsive to receiving the input, snapping a display of the desktop shell to an edge of the immersive shell based at least in part on the direction of the received input, and automatically resizing the desktop shell to a smaller size, and automatically resizing the desktop shell to a smaller size and resizing a portion of the immersive shell previously displaying the desktop shell to a larger size.

12. A method as described in claim 11, the displaying of the desktop shell includes display of a notification as part of at least one said window displayed within the desktop shell that corresponds to a respective said application by changing a display characteristic of the at least one said window.

13. A method as described in claim 11, the desktop shell is configured to employ chrome and the immersive shell, outside of the desktop shell, is not so configured and the desktop shell is configured to include a task bar and the immersive shell, outside of the desktop shell, is not so configured.

14. A method as described in claim 11, the desktop shell includes a plurality of representations configured as icons of applications executable within the desktop shell and at least one representation of a folder to support a hierarchical file structure of the computing device.

15. A method as described in claim 11, the displaying of the immersive shell includes:

a display of data corresponding to an application in a primary or secondary region of the immersive shell; and

a display of data from the desktop shell in a different one of the primary or second portion of the immersive shell.

16. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable storage media comprising instructions stored thereon that are executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

simultaneously displaying both an immersive shell that is configured to support access to applications and a desktop shell within the immersive shell, the desktop shell is;

not framed by a window when viewable in the immersive shell; and

treated, for display and access purposes, as one of the applications within the immersive shell;

configuring the immersive shell and desktop shell to display different applications within each shell, an application of the immersive shell displaying in a primary or secondary region of the immersive shell and the desktop shell displaying in a different one of the primary or secondary region of the immersive shell, wherein the primary and secondary regions do not overlap;

enabling user input during the simultaneous display with applications executed within the immersive shell and with applications executed within the desktop shell;

receiving an input on the desktop shell corresponding to a display of an application of the desktop shell; and

responsive to receiving the input, displaying a menu related to the application of the desktop shell, the menu including a plurality of commands that are performable on a corresponding one of the desktop shell or the plurality of applications as a whole, and automatically resizing a portion of the immersive shell to a smaller size in order to display the menu.

17. A system as described in claim 16, the instructions are part of an operating system.

18. A system as described in claim 16, the desktop shell is configured to display data generated by the applications within the desktop shell using corresponding windows within the desktop shell and the immersive shell is not.

19. A system as described in claim 16, the commands include a start command and a settings command.

20. A system as described in claim 16, the commands include a search command, a share command, or a connect command.