Patent ID: 7757229

Claim:
A computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program for enabling a computer to perform a method of installing an application, the method comprising the steps of: reading a user-created Extensible Markup Language(XML) file to determine a plurality of user-specified attributes of a user interface, wherein the attributes include button information and image information; requesting user interface data from a user-supplied resource object that is identified in the XML file by communicating to the object a key that is given in the XML file; receiving a plurality of text strings from the resource object and presenting the text strings as part of the user interface, wherein each text string is associated with an element of the user interface as indicated in the XML file; parsing the XML file to determine a user-specified attribute of each of a plurality of pre-determined installation actions, and to identify computer code for executing a user-defined installation action; displaying a plurality of buttons in a first pre-defined panel of the user interface, wherein each button is displayed as indicated in the XML file; displaying the contents of a user-supplied computer file in the user interface in response to a user selecting a first button, wherein the computer file is identified in the XML file; launching a separate application in response to the user selecting a second button, wherein the application is launched with start-up characteristics defined in the XML file; and installing an application file on the computer in response to the user selecting a third button, wherein the application file is identified in the XML file.