Patent ID: 8595647

Claim:
A method for displaying an item on a display of a computer, the item representing a file installed on the computer, the file comprising a user file or an application file, the method comprising: after using the file, increasing a usage rate of the file; comparing the usage rate of the file to a predetermined minimum rate; determining, based on the compare, whether the usage rate of the file exceeds the predetermined minimum rate, wherein when the usage rate of the file is determined to exceed the predetermined minimum rate the item representative of the file is displayed on the computer display, and wherein when the usage rate of the file is determined not to exceed the predetermined minimum rate the item representative of the file is not displayed on the computer display; displaying the item representative of the file as a desktop icon and as a program menu selection of a Start menu on the computer display, responsive to determining that the usage rate of the file exceeds the predetermined minimum rate; determining whether the usage rate of the file has changed; responsive to a determination that the usage rate of the file has changed, updating at least one visual attribute of the item representative of the file to indicate the usage rate change; wherein the updating at least one visual attribute comprises changing at least one of a font size, an icon size, a font color, and a brightness of both the desktop icon and the program menu selection.