Patent ID: 7581192

Claim:
A method for grouping a plurality of application windows, the method comprising steps of: presenting a first application window and a second application window on a display, wherein each of the first and second application windows is in an open state, and further wherein the first application window corresponds to a first application and the second application window corresponds to a second application, the second application being different than the first; presenting a first taskbar button corresponding to the first application window and a second taskbar button corresponding to the second application window in a taskbar area on the display; declaring the first application window and the second application window as a first group such that the first and second application windows are members of the first group, the second application window being independent of and external to the first application window; presenting a representation of the first group on the display, the representation of the first group being separate from the first application window and the second application window, wherein the representation of the first group is positioned on a portion of the display that does not coincide with the taskbar area; removing the first and second application windows from the display in response to presenting the representation of the first group; removing the first and second taskbar buttons from the taskbar area of the display in response to presenting the representation of the first group; presenting a third application window in an open state on the display; presenting a third taskbar button corresponding to the third application window in the taskbar area on the display; receiving a user input comprising a command to restore the first and second application windows from the representation of the first group; automatically declaring the third application window as a second group in response to receiving the command to restore the first and second application windows from the representation of the first group, wherein the second group is independent of and external to the first group; restoring the first application window and the second application window in an open state on the display in response to receiving the command to restore the first and second application windows from the representation of the first group; restoring the first and second taskbar buttons to the taskbar area on the display in response to receiving the input; presenting a representation of the second group on the display in response to restoring the first and second application windows from the first group, the representation of the second group being separate from the third application window; removing the third application window from the display in response to presenting the representation of the second group; and removing the third taskbar button from the taskbar area of the display in response to presenting the representation of the second group.