Patent ID: 8261190

Claim:
A computer method for operating a computer system, the computer method comprising: executing a software application in a window operating system to provide a display window of an active application on a display device of the computer system wherein the software application operates in a standard mode wherein an information button is displayed in the display window of the active application; responding to a detected mouse click on the information button by initiating an information mode of the software application in which at least one mouse-sensitive area is indicated in the display window of the active application, wherein the mouse-sensitive area is maintained in the display window and is altered in appearance as compared with other areas of the display window continuously during the information mode, wherein the mouse-sensitive area is associated with a feature of the display window of the active application, and wherein a pop-up window is produced on the display device in response to a detected mouse event in the mouse-sensitive area and the pop-up window provides information related to the associated active application display window feature; wherein the information mode freezes operation of the display window of the active application and alters the appearance of the display window, wherein the display window has a dimmed appearance with an icon for each mouse-sensitive area of the display window.