1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to computer systems, and more specifically relates to apparatus and methods for determining the function of a computer system in response to user input.
2. Background Art
Modern computer systems are tools that many people use on a daily basis. For many people, their time at work is spent to a large degree working on a computer system. Modern computer systems support the execution of many different software applications all at the same time. Sometimes when a user is actively using his or her computer system, some interrupting event occurs that interrupts what the user is doing. Pop-ups are a well-known example of an event that may interrupt the user's work. For example, if the user is typing in a work processor when a pop-up is activated, the pop-up typically is placed in front of the word processor screen. This requires a user to close down the pop-up window and then resume working in the word processor.
Pop-up blockers are known in the art, but are not 100% effective. In addition, there are may other types of events that could interrupt a user when actively working on their computer. For example, an e-mail program might provide a notification screen when a new e-mail is received. An antivirus program might provide a notification screen when a virus is detected. Other software applications may be running that interrupt the user periodically when user input is required. For example, a compiler could be executed to compile a sizable computer program, and the user could then perform other functions while the compiler does its work. However, the compiler, when finished, could interrupt the user. One can see from these simple examples that there exists a wide array of things that can interrupt a user while actively working on a computer. If a user is in the middle of entering text in a word processor, or entering data into a spreadsheet, or entering data into a database, or performing any other activity, the interruption is not only annoying, but negatively affects the user's efficiency and performance.