Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

David A Barnes

Mark A Malamud

Joseph H Matthews, Iii

David Wm Plummer

John E Elsbree

Joyce A Grauman

Erik A Gavriluk

Renee Marceau

David A Bolnick

Russell S Johnson

Royce A Levien

Daniel F Plastina

William T Flora

Chris E Tobey

Kevin Michael Schofield

Daniel P Oran

David W Plummer

Eric L Van Doren

Virginia E Howlett

Laura Janet Butler

Isaac J Heizer

David E McCauley, Iii

Roxanne M Lehmann

Issac J Heizer

Rosanne M Lehmann

Valerie Horvath

J Alison Grauman

Steve Madigan

A system, method, and medium for enhancing a GUI and viewing environment for a computer user is disclosed. Enabling a user to fully navigate and operate a computer through the use of a remote control device, the present invention includes at least a PC mode of operation and a theater mode of operation, wherein the theater mode is designed for distance use with the remote device. While operating in theater mode, received function key signals are interpreted by the computer system to operate various functions which have been modified to accommodate remote viewing and control. To enable the remote device to fully control the applications executable on the computer, the disclosed process notifies the various applications of the current operating mode.

User friendly remote system interface

A system supports the use of information pointers. The information pointers provide audio and/or visual information about objects to which the cursors point. For instance, an information cursor may provide output specifying the name of an object to which the cursor points. In addition to information about the object pointed to by the cursor, information windows provide information about the user's interaction with the object. For example, 'Deleting Source File.' Information windows may contain information pertaining to a pair of objects, such as the source and target object in a drag and drop operation, or to a collection of objects.

Information pointers

User friendly remote system interface with menu highlighting

Information cursors are provided for use in an operating system and/or application programs. Each information cursor includes a pointing portion to point to objects displayed on a video display and an information portion to display information about an object to which the pointing portion points. The information displayed in an information cursor may include the name of the object, a preview of the contents of the object, or property information about the object.

Information cursors

A computer system having a video display runs an operating system that provides a desktop environment to a user and a file system. The desktop environment has associated systems settings that affect the desktop environment. In this method, a first set of values for at least a portion of the system settings are stored in a storage device in a computer network so that the first set of values is visible in the file system. A second set of values, for the same portion of the system settings for which values are stored in the first set of values, is also stored in the storage device such that the second set of values is visible in the file system. In response to a choice by the user between the first set of values and the second set of values, the system settings are updated to have the values specified by the chosen set of values.

Aggregation of system settings into objects

A system supports the use of information pointers. The information pointers provide audio and/or visual information about objects to which the cursors point. For instance, an information cursor may provide output specifying the name of an object to which the cursor points. In addition to information about the object pointed to by the cursor, information windows provide information about the user's interaction with the object. For example, &ldquo;Deleting Source File.&rdquo; Information windows may contain information pertaining to a pair of objects, such as the source and target object in a drag and drop operation, or to a collection of objects.

User friendly remote system interface with menu sizing

User friendly remote system interface with menu scrolling

A system, method, and medium for switching between application modes is disclosed. The computer system for operating in one of two display modes of operation comprises a storage storing at least one application which is operable in a first display mode and second display mode, wherein a displayed menu of the application in the first display mode includes first menu options operable from a keyboard and a displayed menu of the application in the second display mode includes second menu options operable from a remote control device; a display device for displaying said menu options; a receiving device for receiving input from a user comprising a request for a menu; a processor for alerting the application in which display mode the processor is currently operating, for retrieving menu options appropriate for at least one of the first and second display modes, and for controlling the display device to display the first display menu options or the second menu options in accordance with the current display mode.

User interface for switching between application modes

A control panel provides controllers for setting the values of system settings. Each controller controls a subset of related system settings. Scheme objects are provided for encapsulating values of system settings for a controller. The current values of system settings controlled by a controller may be updated by applying the values held within a scheme. Grand schemes are provided for aggregating the system settings for multiple controllers. Thus, the system settings controlled by multiple controllers may be updated in a single transaction by applying a grand scheme to the control panel. Easily practiced approaches to applying schemes and grand schemes to the control panel are provided. Moreover, methods for easily creating and editing the contents of schemes and grand schemes are provided.

A technique for adapting a GUI which is not able to respond to directional navigation inputs which move a focus by specifying a location and a direction from a location to respond to such navigation inputs. The adaptation is done by means of a function which takes the location and the direction as arguments and moves the focus to the area capable of receiving it that is closest to the location specified in the argument in the direction specified in the argument. The function uses a non-directional navigation technique provided by the GUI to obtain each area which is a candidate for receiving the focus in turn and as each area is received, the function determines whether the area is located in the specified direction relative to the specified location and if the area is, whether it is closer to the specified location than any area as yet found. Once all of the areas have been thus examined, the focus is moved to the closest area. A preferred embodiment is disclosed which adapts a WINDOWS brand operating system manufactured by Microsoft Corporation for use with a directional pointing device such as a TV remote controller with direction buttons.

Navigating with direction keys in an environment that permits navigating

A user friendly remote interface system which provides previews in a GUI and viewing environment for a computer user is disclosed. Upon highlighting a selection on a menu, the system accesses and displays a description of the selection stored apart from the selection without having to retrieve into memory the entire application corresponding to a selection. The description may include text, audio, and video descriptions of the selection. Further, the description may be independent from the content contained within the application.

User friendly remote system interface providing previews of applications

Growing community of inventors

Seattle, WA, United States of America

David A Barnes