Patent ID: 6859928

Claim:
A method of operating a host computer system to enable collaborative use of an application program with a client computer system to provide windowed displays of information reflective of said collaborative use of said application program on respective host and client computer system displays, wherein said application program is executed by the host computer system in conjunction with an operating system and communicates input and output data reflecting the collaborative use of said application program with said client computer system, said method comprising the steps of: a) maintaining a display data structure in conjunction with said operating system, said display data structure including first data defining a first set of display windows determined through the execution of a shared application program and second data defining a second set of display windows determined through the execution of a non-shared application program; b) maintaining an event data structure in conjunction with said operating system, said event data structure including third data descriptive of events generated in connection with the execution of said shared application program and fourth data descriptive of events generated in connection with the execution of non-shared application program; c) isolating said second and fourth data within said operating system during the execution of said shared application program; d) isolating said first and third data within said operating system during the execution of said non-shared application program; and e) switching between the execution of said shared and non-shared application programs based on predetermined criteria to simulate the concurrent execution of said shared and non-shared application programs.