Patent ID: 8537073

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a first computer including a processor, a memory, at least one application running on the computer and an operating system running on the computer, a first display, and a first sound producing device; a second computer having its own processor and memory, running applications, having a second display, and a second sound producing device; said second computer connected to receive information from said first computer over a connection, said operating system operating to automatically display content associated with a currently running program on said first display, and to send information over said connection to display content on said second display associated with said currently running program on said second display in a first mode of operation, and in a second mode of operation to automatically display, on said second display, second specified content associated with a previous history of said computer, previous to running said currently running program; and wherein said memory in said first computer stores computer-based rules, which rules define that if a first condition occurs that indicates that the currently running program is capable of being displayed on multiple screens, then said first mode is established and outputs of said currently running program are displayed on both said first display and said second display, in a way that allows interacting with parts of said application that are displayed on said first display, and also interacting with parts of said application that are displayed on said second display, and if a second condition occurs that indicates that the currently running application is not capable of being displayed on multiple screens, then said second mode is established and said second specified content is displayed on said second screen, where said second specified content is not information from the currently running program, where said operating system operates said first and second modes according to computer-based rules, and allows a user to change content of the displays by a manual operation.