Patent ID: 7734690

Claim:
A method for providing information and services of a collaboration system adapted for communicating changes to at least one shared space in a data change format that allows a plurality of members to interact collaboratively in a shared folder in a folder-based file system that is part of an operating system with a user interface, the method comprising: (a) including a collaborative interface in the operating system user interface of a first computer, the collaborative interface adapted to receive user input identifying a synchronized file; (b) receiving at the first computer, from the collaboration system, information regarding members of the plurality of members collaborating within the context of a shared folder containing the synchronized file through the use of the collaboration system and using the collaborative interface to display the information; (c) within the operating system, automatically determining changes made to information stored as a file in the folder-based file system and providing a notification of a determined changed to the collaboration system; (d) in response to the notification of the determined change, determining, within the collaboration system, whether the change relates to the synchronized file; (e) when the change relates to the at least one synchronized file, communicating the change to the plurality of members collaborating within the context of the shared folder, the change being communicated via a first data change message formatted in accordance with the data change format of the collaboration system; (f) receiving at the first computer a second data change message formatted in accordance with the data change format of the collaboration system, the second data change message communicating a change made to the synchronized file by a user of a second computer; and (g) changing the synchronized file within the operating system on the first computer based on the second data change message.