Patent Publication Number: US-6222638-B1

Title: Displaying printer property sheets

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the display of printer property pages, and particularly relates to the integral display of printer property pages generated by a printer driver having a 32-bit user interface together with property pages provided automatically by default by a windowing operating system. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In a windowing operating system such as Windows 95™, each printer has associated properties such as page size and orientation, rendering and halftoning modes, page layout modes, default color matching modes, and the like. These properties can be displayed by pulling up the printer&#39;s property sheet. For example, in Windows 95™ a user can select the Printers folder, right click on a displayed printer to pop up the printer&#39;s context menu, and then select “Properties” from the context menu so as to cause the printer&#39;s property sheet to be displayed. The property sheet contains multiple tabbed pages, with each page displaying one aspect of the printer&#39;s properties. An example of a property sheet is shown in FIG.  1 . 
     Specifically, FIG. 1 illustrates property sheet  1  as it would appear displayed on a computer&#39;s display monitor. Property sheet  1  includes tabbed property pages  3  through  7 , with the “Paper” property page  6  currently selected. Any of the other property pages can be selected instead of “Paper” page  6  simply by clicking on the page&#39;s tab. Ordinarily, “General” page  3 , “Details” page  4  and “Sharing” page  5  are provided automatically by default by the operating system. Additional pages such as “Paper” page  6  and “Graphics” page  7 , on the other hand, typically are provided by the printer driver. 
     Most printer drivers today are legacy 16-bit drivers. Since it is the operating system that displays the property sheet, it is also the operating system that accommodates the display of additional property pages provided by these 16-bit printer drivers. Specifically, the operating system merely requires the 16-bit printer driver to expose a device driver interface (“DDI”) entry point called ExtDeviceModePropSheet, which provides one or more property pages upon request from the operating system. Thus, whenever the operating system receives a user request to display a printer property sheet it automatically attempts to call the driver&#39;s ExtDeviceModePropSheet DDI entry point. If this entry point is in fact provided by the printer driver, the Windows operating system automatically displays the additional property pages returned from the 16-bit printer driver. In particular, the operating system displays the 16-bit driver property pages integrally with the property pages generated by the operating system, as illustrated in FIG.  1 . 
     Recently, 16-bit printer drivers have begun to be replaced by 32-bit printer drivers. The newer 32-bit printer drivers can also generate property pages similar to those generated by 16-bit printer drivers. In addition, 32-bit printer drivers can take advantage of 32-bit operating system features, such as preemptive multi-threading and additional user interface elements, which are available to 32-bit code but not to 16-bit code. Preemptive multi-threading, for instance, can permit more flexible coding and more efficient processing in certain cases. Thus, it is generally desirable to implement printer drivers, including the driver&#39;s user interface, using 32-bit code. 
     However, these newer 32-bit printer drivers having a 32-bit user interface cannot utilize the 16-bit DDI mechanism described above. Accordingly, when the operating system does not detect the 16-bit DDI entry point, the operating system instead automatically provides an additional user interface in the form of a “setup” interface button. 
     FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a printer property sheet  20  for a conventional 32-bit printer driver. As shown in these figures, property sheet  20  only includes the property pages provided automatically by default by the operating system, namely “General” page  23  (shown in FIG.  2 A), “Details” page  24  (shown in FIG. 2B) and “Sharing” page  25  (similar to page  140  shown in FIG.  9 ). Since a 16-bit DDI entry point was not detected in this case, no printer driver property pages were displayed integrally with the operating system property pages. Instead, the operating system provided Setup button  22  (shown in FIG. 2B) as an entry point to a second property sheet. 
     Upon user selection of Setup button  22 , a second property sheet, such as property sheet  30  shown in FIG. 3, is displayed. This additional property sheet contains the property pages generated by the 32-bit printer driver, that is, all the additional property pages that are needed to set properties for the printer. The printer driver&#39;s property pages, such as pages  31  through  33 , are inserted into property sheet  30  using standard Windows API functions. 
     Such an arrangement is less than desirable, since full control over the printer requires access to two separate property sheets. That is, to fully control printer settings, a user must access the standard Windows-generated property pages, as well as a second property sheet, activated from the “setup” button on the first, for the property pages generated by the 32-bit driver itself. Moreover, it can be difficult for a user to fully view both such property sheets at the same time. This causes inconvenience to the user and slows the speed with which printer settings can be changed. 
     Finally, the user typically is required to know that additional printer settings can be accessed via the setup interface button. In particular, property sheet  20  initially displays General page  23 . Accordingly, to access these additional printer settings a user generally must know to select Details page  24  and then select setup interface button  22  in order to obtain secondary property sheet  30 . This causes further inconvenience to the user. 
     It is noted that merely inserting the 32-bit property pages into the Windows-generated property sheet  20  using shell extensions will still result in the “setup” button  22  appearing. This is confusing to the user, since the setup button  22  no longer accesses any printer setup information. 
     What is needed, therefore, is a 32-bit printer driver which has a 32-bit user interface to take advantage of the additional features available to 32-bit code, while at the same time both providing property pages that can be integrally displayed with those of the Windows operating system and suppressing the display of a “setup” button, which could otherwise be confusing to a user. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention to address the foregoing need by providing a 32-bit printer driver whose 32-bit property pages can be displayed in a single property sheet together with the Windows-generated property pages, without the necessity of an additional “setup” button or a second property sheet. 
     In one aspect, the invention is a printer driver having a 32-bit portion for providing a 32-bit property page for insertion into a standard Windows property sheet. This can be accomplished, for example, by using a Windows shell extension. The printer driver also has a 16-bit portion for exposing a device driver interface (DDI) entry point, and for providing a dummy property page when the DDI entry point is called. According to this aspect of the invention, the dummy property page is destroyed before it is displayed. 
     Because the property page is added to the standard Windows property sheet, such as by using a shell extension, a single property sheet is sufficient to include all property pages that can affect settings to the printer. At the same time, the 16-bit portion, since it supplies a dummy property page, causes the operating system to suppress the “setup” button user interface that would otherwise automatically be generated by the operating system. Thus, a distracting and useless button is not displayed. Furthermore, since the dummy property page is destroyed before it is displayed, there is no visible indication of the dummy property page, which otherwise might also distract the user. 
     According to another aspect, the invention is a printer driver having a 32-bit property sheet shell extension registered for printers. A 16-bit portion of the printer driver exposes a device driver interface entry point which provides a dummy property page when the device driver interface entry point is called, the dummy property page indicating that a callback function is to be executed. According to this aspect of the invention, the callback function signals the operating system to destroy the dummy property page before it is displayed. 
     The foregoing arrangement can provide property pages integrally displayed with those of a windowing operating system, while preventing display of a distracting setup button or a 16-bit property page. 
     This brief summary has been provided so that the nature of the invention may be understood quickly. A more complete understanding of the invention can be obtained by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof in connection with the attached drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a property sheet for a printer using a 16-bit printer driver. 
     FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrates the initial property sheet for a printer using a conventional 32-bit printer driver. 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a supplemental property sheet for a printer using a conventional 32-bit printer driver. 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the outward appearance of a computer workstation which embodies the invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the workstation shown in FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 6A is a functional block diagram of a printer driver according to the invention. 
     FIG. 6B is a functional block diagram illustrating the interaction between a printer driver according to the invention and the operating system during creation of a property sheet. 
     FIGS. 7A and 7B depict a display of the Windows Registry Editor, as it would appear on a computer monitor, for explaining registration of a property sheet handler. 
     FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the processing which occurs according to the present invention when the operating system has received a request to display a printer property sheet. 
     FIG. 9 illustrates a printer “Sharing” property page, as displayed on a computer monitor. 
     FIG. 10 illustrates a “Settings” property page provided by a printer driver according to the invention, as displayed on a computer monitor. 
     FIG. 11 illustrates a “Control” property page provided by a printer driver according to the invention, as displayed on a computer monitor. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 4 is a view showing the outward appearance of a representative computer workstation embodying the present invention. Shown in FIG. 4 is a workstation  60 , such as an IBM PC or PC-compatible computer having a windowing environment, such as Microsoft Windows™. Provided with workstation  60  is a display screen  61 , such as a color monitor, a keyboard  62  for entering user commands, and a pointing device  64 , such as a mouse, for pointing to and for manipulating objects displayed on screen  61 . 
     Workstation  60  includes a mass storage device such as a computer disk  65  for storing data files and application program files. A printer  70  is provided for obtaining hardcopy output. In addition, workstation  60  can communicate with other peripherals, servers and workstations via network connection  81 . 
     FIG. 5 is a detailed block diagram showing the internal construction of workstation  60 . As shown in FIG. 5, workstation  60  includes a central processing unit (CPU)  81  interfaced with a computer bus  80 . Also interfaced with computer bus  80  is a printer interface  82 , a network interface  84 , a display interface  86 , a keyboard interface  90 , a mouse interface  91 , a main memory  87 , and a fixed disk  65 . Disk  65  stores a Windows operating system, various Windows applications, printer drivers and data files. The main memory  87  interfaces with the computer bus  80  so as to provide random access memory storage for use by CPU  81  while executing stored process steps such as those of the stored application programs and printer drivers. More specifically, CPU  81  loads those process steps from disk  65  into the main memory  87  and executes those stored process steps out of main memory  87 . 
     FIG. 6A is a functional block diagram of a printer driver according to the invention. In FIG. 6A, dispatcher  100  is a 16-bit dynamic link library (DLL) which exports all entry points required by the Windows graphics device interface for printer drivers. Dispatcher  100  also dispatches incoming calls to the appropriate components. In particular, print job control and graphics function calls are dispatched to spooler  101 , while user interface and capability query function calls are dispatched to user interface  104  via thunking layer  102 . 
     Spooler  101  is a 16-bit DLL which generates a spool file from graphics function calls provided by dispatcher  100 , and writes the spool file into disk  65 . 
     Thunking layer  102 , which consists of a 16-bit DLL and a 32-bit DLL, passes user interface and capability-query function calls from 16-bit dispatcher  100  to 32-bit user interface  104 . 
     User interface  104  is a 32-bit DLL which replies to capability queries received from dispatcher  100 . In addition, user interface  104  replies to user interface requests. For example, upon request from shell extensions  106  user interface  104  creates property pages which display current printer settings. User interface  104  then interfaces with the user to permit those settings to be altered and saved, and maintains the saved settings using configuration manager  105 . 
     Configuration manager  105  is a 32-bit DLL which interprets printer description and settings files. 
     Shell extensions  106  includes all of the printer driver&#39;s shell extensions for adding items to the printer&#39;s context menu and for providing additional property pages, as described in more detail below. 
     Print processor  107  is a 32-bit DLL which reads the spool file from disk  65 , and passes the spool file to despooler  109 . 
     Despooler  109  is a 32-bit DLL which interprets the spool file and implements printing features such as multiple copies, duplexing, collation and the like, based on settings information received from configuration manager  105 . 
     Core  110  is a 32-bit DLL which accepts graphical objects from despooler  109  and which, based on settings information from configuration manager  105 , produces raw printer data using color matching library  111 , raster engine  112  and dump engine  114 . Core  110  then writes the raw printer data into a file in disk  65 . 
     Color matching library  111  adjusts colors to ensure optimum color quality for a wide variety of printer hardware, media types and resolutions. 
     Raster engine  112  is a 32-bit DLL which draws raster graphics on surfaces allocated by core  110 . Specifically, raster engine  112  is capable of drawing pixels, scan lines, polylines and text, as well as transferring bit maps to and from the surface. 
     Dump engine  114  is a 32-bit DLL which encodes raster graphics data as printer control language. Dump engine  114  also converts raster data into raw printer data by performing color conversion, halftoning and smoothing. 
     Language monitor  115 , which consists of two 32-bit DLLs and one 16-bit DLL, performs post-processing of the raw printer data before it reaches the printer. For example, when language monitor  115  detects a particular code in the print job, it interrogates the printer firmware for the currently installed ink cartridge type and issues a warning in case the installed ink cartridge type does not match the cartridge type expected by the print job. 
     FIG. 6B is a functional block diagram illustrating the interaction between a printer driver according to the invention and the Windows 95™ operating system. In FIG. 6B, the white-background blocks illustrate components of the operating system and the black-background blocks are components of the printer driver. Each of blocks  122 ,  124  and  127  is implemented using computer-executable process steps which can be stored on disk  65 , downloaded from disk  65  to main memory  87 , and executed by CPU  81  out of main memory  87 . 
     Shell  120  is provided by the Windows operating system and is primarily responsible for display and manipulation of system objects, such as files, folders and printers. For example, shell  120  generates and displays the contents of the Printers folder, generates and displays a context menu when a user right-clicks on a printer, and generates and displays a property sheet when a user selects “Properties” from the context menu. 
     Shell extension  122  is included in shell extensions  106  (shown in FIG.  6 A), and is provided by the printer driver according to the invention. In more detail, shell extension  122  is a shell extension implemented in a 32-bit DLL, which is registered for printer property sheets, as described in detail below. Upon request from shell  120 , shell extension  122  queries user interface  104  for property pages and then provides those property pages to shell  120 , whereby those property pages are integrally displayed with the operating system&#39;s property pages. 
     As noted above, shell extension  122  is a registered shell extension. In this regard, the Windows operating system permits use of a type of software mechanism, generically termed “shell extensions”, by which programmers can provide features in addition to those provided by shell  120 . One type of shell extension, called a “property sheet shell extension” or a “property sheet handler”, permits programmers to add property pages to an object&#39;s property sheet. In order to add property pages to a property sheet, a property sheet shell extension is first created within a DLL and then registered with the appropriate branch of the Windows registry. Specifically, the Windows registry is a hierarchical database that contains information about system software resources, such as printers, keyboard configurations and the like. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the printer driver according to the invention registers shell extension  122  during installation of the printer, such as when the printer is added to the Printers folder using the Windows “Add Printer” function. Alternatively, shell extension  122  could be registered by creating a “registration file” containing appropriate ASCII statements and using the registry editor to merge the contents of the registration file into the registry. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the printer driver registers shell extension  122  in the following two steps. As background, it is noted that shell extension  122  has a unique class ID which has been generated for it using the UUIDGEN utility included with the Windows SDK. 
     First, the shell extension&#39;s class ID is added as a new key to the Windows registry under the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID branch of the registry, and an InProcServer 32  subkey is also added, the InProcServer 32  subkey specifying the name of and path to the DLL containing the shell extension. Thus, FIG. 7A shows newly added class ID  130  having subkey  131  which contains path  132  to the appropriate DLL. 
     Second, shell extension  122  is registered for the specific class of objects to which it pertains. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7B, this step is performed by adding shell extension  122  under the PropertySheetHandlers subkey  134  under the shellex key  135  of the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Printers branch of the registry. As seen in FIG. 7B, property sheet shell extension  122  references class ID  130 . As a result, shell extension  122  is registered for printer property sheets. 
     Returning to FIG. 6B, printer sharing shell extension  121  is a 32-bit registered shell extension provided by the Windows operating system. Printer sharing shell extension  121  also is registered for printer property sheets. Thus, as shown in FIG. 7B, printer sharing shell extension  121  also is registered under the PropertySheetHandlers subkey  134  under the shellex key  135  of the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Printers branch of the registry. 
     User interface  104  in FIG. 6B is a 32-bit user interface provided by the printer driver according to the invention, the function of which is described above in connection with the description of FIG.  6 A. 
     The Windows 32-bit graphics device interface (GDI 32 )  125  provides graphical user interfaces for the Windows operating system. 
     The Windows 16-bit graphics device interface (GDI 16 )  126  provides an interface between GDI 32   125  and 16-bit applications such as 16-bit printer drivers. 
     The 16-bit driver entry points portion  127  is located within the dispatcher  100  of the printer driver and includes an ExtDeviceModePropSheet DDI entry point. As described in more detail below, upon request the ExtDeviceModePropSheet DDI entry point according to the invention provides a dummy property page which includes a feature that causes the dummy property page to be destroyed before it is displayed. 
     The operation of the foregoing arrangement will now be described with reference to FIG.  8 . FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the processing that occurs according to a representative embodiment of the present invention when a user selects “Properties” for a printer. Briefly, according to FIG. 8, shell  120  creates a property sheet and adds General and Details property pages to it; shell  120  queries all registered shell extensions; shell extension  121  provides a printer sharing property page; shell extension  122  obtains the printer driver property pages from user interface  104 , if appropriate, and returns those property pages to shell  120 ; shell  120  calls ExtDeviceModePropSheet and the device driver DDI entry point returns a dummy property page with a callback function; the callback function is executed and returns failure; shell  120  then destroys the dummy property page; and finally shell  120  assembles the property pages received from the registered shell extensions and displays them together with the operating system property pages. 
     In more detail, in step S 801  shell  120  creates a property sheet and adds standard property pages to the property sheet. These standard pages typically include a “General” property page, such as shown in FIG. 2A, which displays a comment entered by the user and which provides a button permitting the user to print a test page using the printer. The other standard property page provided by shell  120  is a “Details” property page, such as shown in FIG. 2B, for viewing and altering the port to which jobs will be printed, adjusting printer timeout settings, and providing interface buttons to additional dialog boxes for adding new ports, deleting ports, capturing ports, ending port captures, adding new printer drivers, altering spool settings and altering port settings. 
     In step S 802 , shell  120  examines the PropertySheetHandlers subkey  134  under the shellex key  135  of the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Printers branch of the Windows registry in order to locate all shell extensions registered for printer property sheets. Each such registered shell extension is then sequentially queried to provide property pages. 
     In step S 804 , responding to shell  120 &#39;s query, printer sharing shell extension  121  generates and provides a “Sharing” property page, such as sharing property page  140  illustrated in FIG.  9 . As seen in FIG. 9, sharing property page  140  includes radio buttons  141  indicating whether the printer is shared with other computers on the network, the share name  142  which appears to those other computers, and any password  144  required to access the printer over the network. The contents of each of these fields can be changed by the user. It should be noted that shell extension  121  will not provide a property page in all cases. Thus, for example, if the workstation is not networked or if the subject printer is a network printer, then printer sharing shell extension  121  simply does not provide a Sharing property page. 
     Returning to FIG. 8, in step S 805 , responding to shell  120 &#39;s query, shell extension  122  within the printer driver determines whether the printer driver to which it corresponds has been selected for the current printer. If so, then processing proceeds to step S 806 . On the other hand, if another printer driver has been selected for the current printer, then processing proceeds to step S 807  and no property pages are returned. 
     In step S 806 , shell extension  122  calls user interface  104  which generates display information for the printer driver&#39;s property pages and passes that information to shell extension  122 . Shell extension  122  then returns that property page information to shell  120 . As a result, the printer driver&#39;s property pages will be integrally displayed with the operating system&#39;s property pages. 
     In this regard, the printer driver&#39;s property pages typically provide a user the access necessary to view and modify settings related to printer-specific functionality (i.e., printer-specific settings). Property pages provided by the printer driver to the operating system according to the preferred embodiment are shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. 
     Specifically, FIG. 10 shows “Settings” property page  160  as displayed on a computer monitor. Settings property page  160  permits a user to designate any displayed pre-defined or user-defined settings configuration, such as settings configuration  161  or  162 , as the current settings configuration. This can be effected, for example, by double-clicking on the desired settings configuration. In addition, Settings property page  160  permits a user to edit such defined settings configurations by first selecting the desired settings configuration and then selecting “Setting Properties” button  162 . Similarly, Settings property page  160  permits a user to create a new settings configuration by selecting “Create New Setting” button  165 . 
     Another property page provided to the operating system in step S 806  of the preferred embodiment is “Control” property page  170 , shown in FIG.  11 . Control property page  170  permits a user to cause the printer to run self-diagnostic tests, for example by selecting button  171 , or to alter the printer&#39;s power management settings, such as by selecting button  172 . 
     As noted above in connection with the discussion of FIG. 10, Settings page  160  permits the user to alter printer-specific settings by selecting among relatively high-level user-defined or pre-defined settings configurations. The preferred embodiment therefore permits very fast alteration of the printer-specific settings. The specific settings associated with each such settings configuration can also be altered by selecting Setting Properties button  164 . 
     However, although the above-described property pages are preferred, any other property pages that permit a user to alter settings related to printer-specific functionality may instead (or also) be provided in step S 806 . For example, property pages permitting a user to alter lower-level printer-specific settings might instead (or also) be provided in this step. Such lower level printer-specific settings might include, for example, printer resolution, color model (e.g., monochrome, color for text, and color for pictures), halftoning modes, color adjustment modes, intensity, paper size (e.g., letter size or legal size), paper orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape), paper feed (e.g., automatic or manual), number of copies, collation, reverse printing, paper source (e.g., upper tray or lower tray), duplexing, printer fonts, and the like. As noted above, such lower-level printer-specific settings are altered in the preferred embodiment when editing an existing or creating a new settings configuration. 
     Returning to FIG. 8, in step S 807 , after querying all printer-registered shell extensions, shell  120  calls GDI 32   125  to load the printer driver for the printer and query the printer driver for its property pages. GDI 32   125  then passes the call on to GDI 16   126 , which loads the printer driver and calls the ExtDeviceModePropSheet DDI entry point within the driver entry points portion  127  of the printer driver, as described in more detail above. 
     In step S 809 , the ExtDeviceModePropSheet DDI entry point responds by providing a dummy property page. In this regard, ordinarily a printer driver&#39;s ExtDeviceModePropSheet DDI entry point will specify a number of parameters, according to which shell  120  will display one or more property pages. However, in the present invention it is intended that the dummy property page provided by the ExtDeviceModePropSheet DDI entry point will never be displayed. Accordingly, most of these parameters generally can be arbitrarily set, and in most cases can be set to a null value. 
     However, in the dummy property page information provided in the present invention certain parameters have specific values. In particular, among the parameters that can be specified in such property page information are a flag indicating that a callback function is to be used, together with the address of the callback function. The callback function feature is typically used by printer drivers to obtain notification that the property page is about to be displayed. This callback function feature is used in the dummy property page according to the invention, and therefore the appropriate flag is set to indicate that a callback function is to be used, and the address of the callback function are provided, in the dummy property page information provided by the printer driver according to the invention. The dummy property page information is then transmitted to shell  120  via GDI 16   126  and GDI 132   125 . 
     As noted above, the Windows operating system always checks for the DDI entry point when a printer&#39;s property sheet is requested. If the DDI entry point is not detected or a property page is not provided in response to the operating system&#39;s call to the DDI entry point, a “setup” button, which provides an interface to a secondary property sheet, is provided. Since in this case shell  120  receives a property page in response to its call to the ExtDeviceModePropSheet DDI entry point, shell  120  suppresses display of a setup interface button, thereby omitting it from the displayed property sheet. At the same time, as described in more detail below, shell  120  will destroy the dummy property page provided before it is ever displayed. 
     In step S 809 , the callback function included in the dummy property page is executed by the operating system to notify the driver that the page is about to be displayed. In this case, the callback function specified in the dummy property page simply returns a failure flag each time it is called. 
     In step S 810 , shell  120  detects the failure of the callback function and destroys the dummy property page before it is ever displayed. 
     In step S 811 , shell  120  adds the property pages received from the registered shell extensions into the property sheet and then displays the property sheet, with the operating system property pages integrally displayed with those provided by the printer driver. 
     As a result of the foregoing processing, a property sheet such as that shown in FIG. 10 is generated. As shown in FIG. 10, property sheet  150  includes property pages  151 ,  152  and  140  which are provided automatically by default by the operating system. Pages  151 ,  152  and  140  are integrally displayed with property pages  160  and  170  provided by the printer driver, even though the printer driver uses a 32-bit user interface. Moreover, since a property page was provided by ExtDeviceModePropSheet, the operating system does not display a setup button. At the same time, the dummy property page is not displayed, since the callback function referenced in it returns failure, causing the operating system to destroy the dummy property page. Thus, according to the invention a printer driver having a 32-bit user interface provides property pages integrally displayed with the property pages of the operating system, and without a potentially confusing “setup” button or a tab for a 16-bit property page. 
     The invention has been described above with respect to particular illustrative embodiments. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Various other changes and modifications may be made by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.