Patent ID: 7878808

Claim:
A computer program product, tangibly embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, for playing tutorials, the computer program product being operable to cause a data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising: receiving a tutorial for a computer program, the tutorial storing screen images of the computer program for guiding a user to perform tutorial steps; playing the tutorial using a first player, the first player displaying the stored screen images, and allowing interaction with the computer program while playing the tutorial, wherein the interaction comprises an ability to modify data of the computer program; and executing a second player from the first player, the second player being a different application from the first player, the second player: playing the tutorial, displaying the stored screen images, providing a simulated program environment, within the stored screen images, corresponding to the computer program, and allowing a user to perform steps in the simulated program environment of the second player while playing the tutorial, wherein results of the tutorial steps cannot modify the data of the computer program; wherein: the computer program runs in an application window; playing the tutorial using the first player comprises running the tutorial in a tutorial window that overlaps the application window and that remains on top of the application window; and the tutorial steps performed by the user in the simulated program environment of the second player are the same tutorial steps that can be performed by the user when interacting directly with the computer program.