Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Samuel D Hobson

David Earl Heckerman

Eric I Horvitz

John S Breese

Adrian C Klein

Gregory L Shaw

David O Hovel

Jacobus A Rommelse

Benjamin Waldman

James Randall Flynn

Karen Jensen

Erich S Finkelstein

Erich-So Slashedren Finkelstein

An intelligent user assistance system is disclosed. The system is constructed using a reasoning model to determine the probability of a user's intentions, goals, or informational needs in the context of a software program. This is accomplished through analysis of information about the user's actions, the program state, and spoken words. The system monitors user interaction with the software program and applies probabilistic reasoning to sense that the user may need assistance in using a particular feature or to accomplish a specific task. The inference system accesses a thorough and updateable user profile system to continually check for competencies and changes assistance that is given based on the competencies.

Intelligent user assistance facility

A general event composing and monitoring system that allows high-level events to be created from combinations of low-level events. An event specification tool allows for rapid development of a general event processor that creates high-level events from combinations of user actions. The event system, in combination with a reasoning system, is able to monitor and perform inference about several classes of events for a variety of purposes. The various classes of events include the current context, the state of key data structures in a program, general sequences of user inputs, including actions with a mouse-controlled cursor while interacting with a graphical user interface, words typed in free-text queries for assistance, visual information about users, such as gaze and gesture information, and speech information. Additionally, a method is provided for building an intelligent user interface system by constructing a reasoning model to compute the probability of alternative user's intentions, goals, or informational needs through analysis of information about a user's actions, program state, and words. The intelligent user interface system monitors user interaction with a software application and applies probabilistic reasoning to sense that the user may need assistance in using a particular feature or to accomplish a specific task. The intelligent user interface also accepts a free-text query from the user asking for help and combines the inference analysis of user actions and program state with an inference analysis of the free-text query. The inference system accesses a rich, updatable user profile system to continually check for competencies and changes assistance that is given based on user competence.

Intelligent user assistance facility for a software program

A method for managing simultaneous display of multiple windows in a graphical user interface (GUI). A computer system with a display and user interface input device displays a primary or container window on the display, comprising a predetermined region for displaying information and/or receiving user commands associated with a first computer process. The system displays a target window comprising a predetermined region for displaying information and/or receiving user commands associated with a different computer process. The target window is typically displayed in a higher z-order relative to the primary window to maintain it on top. In response to a predetermined triggering condition, the target window is manipulated by movement, temporary disappearance, and/or size reduction, while maintaining the relative z-order of the target window relative to the primary window and away from a predetermined avoidance region associated with the first computer process. The target window can be moved away a minimal distance, biased in a predetermined direction, or positioned at anchor points relative to the container window to avoid obscuring the avoidance region.

Method for managing simultaneous display of multiple windows in a

An event composing and monitoring system that allows high-level events to be created from combinations of low-level events. An event specification tool, contained in the system, allows for rapidly developing a general event processor that creates high-level events from combinations of user actions. An event system, in combination with an inference system, monitors and infers, for various purposes, about several classes of events including: current program context; state of key data structures; user input sequences, including actions with a mouse-controlled cursor while interacting with a graphical user interface; words typed in free-text help queries; visual user information, such as gaze and gesture information; and user speech information. Additionally, an intelligent user interface is provided by constructing a reasoning model that computes probability of alternative user intentions, goals or information needs through analyzing information regarding program state, and that user's actions and free-text query words. Specifically, the interface monitors user interaction with a program and probabilistically reasons to sense that a user may need assistance in using a particular feature or to accomplish a specific task. This interface accepts a free-text help query from the user and combines the inference analysis of user actions and the program state with an inference analysis of the query. The inference system, using an updateable user profile, continually checks for user competencies and, based on such competencies, changes assistance that is offered.

Installing for use with a computer a file on demand using a preview file. A feature of a program is represented by a preview file and a feature file. The feature file contains all the components necessary to support the feature. The preview file contains a subset of the feature file. Only the preview file is initially installed. The preview file may be used to preview and select the feature. If the feature is selected, then the feature file is installed and the preview file is deleted.

Method for installing a file on demand using a preview

An improved free text query method and system is provided as part of an improved on-line help system. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the on-line help system provides a free text query system that performs partial analysis. The partial analysis performed by the preferred embodiment includes identifying keywords within input provided by the user, performing disambiguation analysis, performing definiteness analysis, performing capitalization analysis, and generating a ranked list of candidates according to a probability associated with each candidate. In addition, the preferred embodiment of the present invention is internationalizable. That is, the present invention is easily ported between different languages.

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Samuel D Hobson