Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Christopher Doan

Miron Vranjes

Chaitanya Dev Sareen

Matthew Isaac Worley

Nils Anders Sundelin

Richard Fang

Keri Talbot

Jeremy Monroe Bowen

Michael H Krause

Jesse Clay Satterfield

Robert J Jarrett

Lavanya Vasudevan

Christopher D Edwards

John S Campbell

Benjamin Edward Rampson

Bret P Anderson

Chad B Rothschiller

Lawrence Fubini Waldman

Mohammed Samji

Song Zou

Amy Lin

Alex G Snitkovskiy

Karen Xiaoxu Cheng

Brian Eric Uphoff

Christian Klein

Michael J Patten

Tsz Yan Wong

Richard Jennings Duncan

Aleksandar Uzelac

Anshul Rawat

Ross Nathaniel Luengen

Jaclyn Carley Knapp

Megan Lesley Tedesco

Phoi Heng Lew

Alexandre Gueniot

Tyler Joseph Donahue

Richard W Zarick

Karen Y Cheng

Sherman Der

Robin Emily Wakefield

Christopher Michael Becker

Yaou Wei

Steven James Frederickson

Abhishek Malani

Zachary Grant Herman

Thomas Constantine

Yun Ma

Poorva Singal

Carmen Zlateff

Henri-Charles Machalani

Alan Stephenson

Emily Grace Sappington

Jeff G Arnold

Megan Ann Bates

Christopher E Swan

Samuel George Gates

Matthew Kiichi Slemon

Andrew Pyon Mittereder

Robyn Elizabeth Dunn

Nidhi Sanghai

Matthew Neil Akers

Michael Seibert

Oliver R Jones

Diana Gail Kimball

Steven Welch

Jason Morris Yore

Scott James Krieder

Darren Christopher Laybourn

Oliver Ross Prosser Jones

Sohit Karol

Apurva Jain

Matthew N Akers

Richard Zarick

Nidhi S Sanghai

Tyler J Donahue

Embodiments disclosed herein are related to systems and methods for implementing a customizable compact overlay window in a display. In one embodiment, a computing system includes one or more processors and a storage device that stores computer executable instructions that can be executed by the processors to cause the computing system to perform the following. The system receives from an application running on the computing system customization parameters that define how the application is to be configured in a compact overlay window. The system generates the compact overlay window so that the compact overlay window is customizable according to the customization parameters. The system positions the compact overlay window in a portion of a display of the computing system.

Customizable compact overlay window

Described herein are embodiments that relate to implementation of multi-stage gestures, using multi-stage gestures to control applications, and allowing, under certain conditions, invocation of an open operation (which would normally only open an application or bring an application to the fore) to cause a target application to terminate before being newly opened. A multi-stage gesture may be used to invoke different functions at respective gesture stages of a same input stroke. The functions may be different forms of application 'closing', such as backgrounding or suspending an application, terminating an application, and restarting an application. The restarting (including termination) of an application when the application is opened may be termed a 'smart-restart', which may involve interpreting from specific user activity that a user intends to restart an application.

Closing, starting, and restarting applications

Different gestures and actions are used to interact with spreadsheets. The gestures are used in manipulating the spreadsheet and performing other actions in the spreadsheet. For example, gestures may be used to move within the spreadsheet, select data, filter, sort, drill down/up, zoom, split rows/columns, perform undo/redo actions, and the like. Sensors that are associated with a device may also be used in interacting with spreadsheets. For example, an accelerometer may be used for moving and performing operations within the spreadsheet.

Natural input for spreadsheet actions

A clipboard component provides a multi-item clipboard store. The clipboard component uses a technical strategy that facilitates its efficient adoption and use by end users and application developers. From an end user's standpoint, the clipboard component provides a new user experience which is easy for the users to discover, learn and use, due, in part, to the use of ergonomic control mechanisms for activating paste and copy operations. From a developer's standpoint, the clipboard component provides a way of allowing existing legacy applications to interact with a multi-item clipboard store, even though these applications were not originally created to provide that type of interaction. The clipboard component can also, upon instruction by a user, apply one or more supplemental operations to a copied content item, such as transferring the item to a target computing device.

Interacting with a clipboard store

Techniques are described herein that are capable of providing universal back navigation for multiple windows. Universal back navigation allows universal back functionality to transition between operating in an in-application context and a cross-application context. In the in-application context, operation of the universal back functionality is restricted to functionality of an application (e.g., a single application) to which user instructions are to be currently directed by default. In the cross-application context, operation of the universal back functionality is not restricted to functionality of the application to which user instructions are to be currently directed by default.

Universal back navigation for multiple windows

Customizable bladed applications are described herein. A device platform is configured to provide a simultask mode that enables combined user access to multiple applications of the platform via respective chrome portions. When simultask mode is active, arrangement of chrome elements within a user interface is controlled to generate a bladed view that provides a compact representation for one application in conjunction with an expanded view that provides principal chrome for a different application. The platform makes the bladed view available for any displayable application of the platform. The bladed view may also include application-specific elements that are populated using customizations designated via metadata of the application, or using default information for applications in the absence of designated customizations. Further, the platform may implement a notification system that operates on behalf of applications to obtain and apply updates for dynamically updatable content incorporated into bladed views.

Customizable bladed applications

This document describes techniques and apparatuses enabling assisted presentation of application windows. In some embodiments, these techniques and apparatuses enable sizing and positioning of application windows to provide an optimized layout of application windows.

Assisted presentation of application windows

Techniques for a contextual new tab experience in a heterogeneous tab environment are described. In at least some implementations, relevant content associated with a user's current task is determined based on contextual information collected from tabs presented in a heterogeneous tab environment. According to various implementations, a new tab is launched displaying the relevant content in the heterogeneous tab environment. Thus, contextually relevant content can be determined from a current task and displayed in a single location via a heterogeneous tab environment.

Contextual new tab experience in a heterogeneous tab environment

Techniques for an experience mode transition are described. Generally, an experience mode refers to a visual and functional arrangement that is presented to a user of a device. Different experience modes present different visual and functional arrangements to a user. According to various embodiments, a computing device is configured to operate in multiple experience modes and may transition between different experience modes and based on a variety of different triggering events. Generally, a transition between different experience modes causes a visual and/or functional reconfiguration of a user experience on a device.

Experience mode transition

Systems, methods, computer storage media, and graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are provided for combined switching and placement of windows based on a single action. The single action may be moving an element to a hot spot or a snap portion of a display area. In response to the single action, an element is automatically launched, repositioned according to a snap portion or a hot spot that recognized the element, and opened, and a view is automatically switched to a view of at least the element.

Combined switching and window placement

A multi-finger touchpad gesture refers to a movement of multiple fingers in a particular pattern across a touchpad. The touchpad senses the multiple fingers, and based on the sensed finger locations and finger movements, one of multiple multi-finger touchpad gestures is detected. A user interface being presented on a display is altered as appropriate in response to the detected multi-finger touchpad gesture. Various different multi-finger touchpad gestures can be detected. The multi-finger touchpad gestures can include a gesture that traverses different hierarchical views of the operating system user interface, a gesture that switches between two recent windows, a gesture that traverses a back stack of windows, a gesture that displays a window selection view and selects a particular window, and a gesture that moves a window to a different location (including snapping a window to an edge or corner of the display).

Multi-finger touchpad gestures

A format object task pane is provided that presents contextual formatting controls for formatting objects. The format object task pane may be docked to an edge of an application window and may be modeless, allowing a user to interact with application functionalities while the task pane is open. Formatting controls may behave contextually and display controls specific to a currently selected object. The presented formatting controls may be organized by categories and by sections within the categories. Text formatting and object formatting controls may be provided in a same task pane.

Format object task pane

Rich formatting may be provided for rich data labels. A rich data label may be created for at least one data point associated with a visualization. The data label may be formatted and displayed on the visualization. The rich data label may bind to a particular data point rather than adhering to conventional index-based anchor logic where a data label is bound to the index of a data point. Accordingly, in response to determining that the location of the data point has changed in the visualization, the location of the rich data label is automatically adjusted to remain attached to its original data point.

Rich formatting for a data label associated with a data point

Object editing controls may be provided. First, a selection of an object within an electronic document may be received. Then, in response to the received selection of the object, at least one selectable control may be displayed. The at least one selectable control may be configured to provide a set of most commonly used editing controls for editing the selected object. Upon selection of the at least one selectable control, a user interface comprising the set of most commonly used editing controls may be deployed next to the selected object.

Providing contextual on-object control launchers and controls

Techniques for configuring a user interface based on an experience mode transition are described. Generally, an experience mode refers to a visual and functional arrangement that is presented to a user of a device. Different experience modes present different visual and functional arrangements to a user. According to various embodiments, a computing device is configured to operate in multiple experience modes and may transition between different experience modes and based on a variety of different triggering events. Generally, a transition between different experience modes causes a visual and/or functional reconfiguration of a user experience on a device.

Configuring a user interface based on an experience mode transition

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Christopher Doan