Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Helen Elizabeth Drislane

Tony Edward Schreiner

Brian E Manthos

Prashant Singh

Paul Cutsinger

Michael J Ens

Jeremiah S Epling

Louis A Martinez

Harel M Williams

Chaitanya Dev Sareen

Jan-Kristian Markiewicz

David Andrew Matthews

Bruce Alan Morgan

Gregory Alexander Lett

Paul L Cutsinger, Jr

Techniques to facilitate finding a tab or tabs in a user interface window are described. Various embodiments present tabs, individual tabs being associated with an opened document such as a web page or an activity, in a user interface window and automatically group at least some of the tabs together in a visually distinctive way. In at least some embodiments, this grouping is performed in response to a user interacting with the tabs in a particular way. For instance, a user may cause a tab to be created or moved within the user interface window such that the tab is grouped with a tab group or ungrouped from a tab group. Furthermore, one or more embodiments provide for certain tab-related actions, such as selecting an active tab and changing a display of a title of a tab, which can be performed in a manner based at least in part on this grouping.

Tab management in a user interface window

Various embodiments provide techniques for direct manipulation of content. The direct manipulation of content can provide an intuitive way for a user to access and interact with content. In at least some embodiments, content manipulation is 'direct' in that content displayed in a user interface (e.g., one or more Web pages in a Web browser interface) can be moved in and/or out of the user interface in a direction that corresponds to user-initiated physical movements, such as the user dragging or flicking the content with the user's finger or some other type of input device.

Direct manipulation of content

Various embodiments provide a target element zoom component that is configured to perform a focal point zoom operation on a target element using an appropriate zoom factor. In at least some embodiments, the target element zoom component receives a request to perform a zoom operation at a focal point of a target element in a page displayed in a display area. In at least some embodiments, the request is received via two-finger tap input on a screen of a touch enabled device. The target element zoom component then determines an appropriate zoom factor for the zoom operation. Responsive to determining the appropriate zoom factor, the target element zoom component performs the zoom operation on the page using the appropriate zoom factor so that the target element remains within the display area with the focal point retained.

Target element zoom

Tabs or other display elements that do not comply with traditional 'window' requirements can be individually presented to a user when the window containing such tabs or other display elements is hidden or obscured. The user can be enabled to perform tab-specific actions, such as closing a particular tab, or viewing a specific tab without interacting with the containing window. Executing processes utilizing such tabs can register them and provide order and display information. Subsequent tab-specific actions can be received and directed to such executing processes. Additional requests, such as for thumbnails and bitmaps, can be directed to such executing processes in order to implement the tab presentation mechanisms and to provide for the tab-specific actions.

Child window surfacing and management

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Helen Elizabeth Drislane