Patent ID: 8549429

Claim:
An information processing apparatus allowing input/output through a graphical user interface, comprising: a touch-sensitive display screen including a rectangular area with longer and shorter sides; and a multi-window management apparatus displaying a plurality of windows on said display screen and allocating the plurality of windows to tasks executable on said information processing apparatus, respectively, the multi-window management apparatus including activating icon display means for displaying, on said display screen, two or more activating icons arranged with respective areas not overlapping with each other; window display means responsive to designation of any of said activating icons by a user through said graphical user interface, for opening a new window corresponding to the activating icon next to said designated activating icon and for, after the new window is opened, displaying an operating icon on an opposite side of the new window from the designated activating icon ; and first window arranging means responsive to designation of any of said activating icons by the user through said graphical user interface, for re-arranging any existing window displayed on said display screen and any activating icon other than said designated activating icon such that they do not overlap on an area on which said new window is opened and the displayed windows are arranged along said longer side, and displaying these on said display screen, wherein the new window displayed by said window display means has a rectangular shape, said designated activating icon and said operating icon are arranged and displayed on two sides parallel to a shorter side of said new window in a manner that identifies the new window as a currently active window, by way of said operating icon being displayed as the same shape as said designated activating icon, and said designated activating icon and said operating icon are being arranged at positions where a segment connecting their centers becomes parallel to said longer side.