Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Aaron B Tinling

Christopher Andrew Evans

Roland Lucas Fernandez

Gregory L Raiz

Richard Wales Stoakley

Eran Shtiegman

Louis Amadio

Thomas S Bouchard

Arulkumar Elumalai

Scott Hanggie

Steve Chang

Gregory W Raiz

A computing device learns over time how to identify task reminders that are most likely to be helpful to a user in different contexts. The task reminders can remind the user of activities that the user needs to do. The computing device displays a graphical user interface (GUI) that contains the task reminders identified as being most likely to be helpful to the user in the user's current context. The computing device updates the task reminders in the GUI as the user's context changes. In this way, the computing device can present task reminders that are likely to be currently helpful to the user while suppressing task reminders that are less likely to be helpful to the user at the current time.

Contextually-appropriate task reminders

Focus state themeing is accomplished by separating the processing of the focus state from the processing of an operative state of a control element. The operative states of the control element are entered or exited based upon the detection of input from a user or the detection of control availability by the operating system or by an application running on the operating system. Once an operative state is determined for a control element, the focus state of the control element is detected and merged with the operative state to generate a theme state for the control element. The theme state is a combination of the operative state and the focus state. There is one combined theme state for each operative-focus combination. Various display configurations may be used to represent a control element with a combined operative-focus state. The control element is then rendered on a display based on the operative state theme and the focus state theme.

Focus state themeing

A method of specifying a visual style for a set of graphical components is provided for use on a computer system having a graphical operating environment. The method includes providing a schema file of available graphical components for which a visual style can be created. In the schema file, each component is defined by a unique class name. The method further includes selecting graphical components from the schema file that are desired to have a defined visual style. Properties are then assigned to these selected components according to the desired visual style, and pairs of selected graphical components and corresponding assigned properties for the defined visual style together are grouped together in a class data file that defines the overall appearance for the defined visual style.

System and theme file format for creating visual styles

A system theme schema file format includes declarations of enumerations, properties, control parts, and control part states for providing extensible theming of the visual appearance of a computer operating system's user interface components. Custom theme schema files can extend the system theme schema by adding declarations of custom enumerations, custom properties, custom control part, and custom control part states, thereby participating in theming of the visual appearance of components of the computer's operating system. The schema files establish the allowable form and content of data that specifies how user interface components should be displayed in accordance with particular themes. Themes are defined and user interface components are displayed by the operating system in accordance with the information specified in the schema files.

Extensible scheme for defining the visual appearance of computer system components

Several systems and associated methodologies are provided for rendering a themed image while mitigating pixelation and/or the disproportionate appearance thereof when the image is sized and/or scaled. The systems include at least one sizing module adapted to size components of a themed UI element. The systems also include at least one alignment module adapted to align at least one second component of a UI element within a first component of a UI element. The sizing modules are adapted to size the components with nine grid methodologies or based upon the ratio of the DPI of the context that the UI element is being rendered to the DPI that at least one of the components was designed under.

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Aaron B Tinling