METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACTIVE WINDOW SELECTION AND APPLICATION ACTIVATION

摘要

A method and apparatus for simplifying active window selection and shared command execution in a computer system generates a menu corresponding to a first application of a plurality of applications which can be executed concurrently in the computer system. The menu identifies a subset of the plurality of applications whose corresponding windows can be made currently active. Additionally, one or more of the subset of applications is installed but is not executing at the computer system. A selection identifying one of the subset of applications is then received (610), and a window corresponding to the identified one of the subset of applications is made the currently active window (630). In one embodiment, the menu also includes a set of shared commands which can be executed in the computer system. These shared commands perform the same function for each application of the subset of applications. In this embodiment, upon selection of one of the shared commands from the menu, the selected command is executed (640).