Patent ID: 8291332

Claim:
In a computer system including an operating system and a dashboard server, a method for presenting a user-activatable dashboard layer, the method executed by a computer and comprising: executing the operating system that provides an operating system user interface for receiving user inputs to user applications of the computer system; locally executing the dashboard server that provides the dashboard layer upon activation of the dashboard layer; executing an application that receives user input through the operating system user interface; receiving a user input indicative of a trigger event for executing the dashboard layer that operates independently of the user applications of the computer system; and responsive to the trigger event: using the dashboard server to execute the dashboard layer that receives all user inputs while the dashboard is executed thereby preventing the application from receiving any further user inputs through the operating system user interface, the dashboard layer comprising a group of desktop widgets contained by the dashboard layer; and responsive to receiving a user input directed towards at least one of the plurality of desktop widgets, directing the user input to the at least one desktop widget through the dashboard layer without the user input being directed to the application.