Patent ID: 7895259

Claim:
A method for managing application instances in a computing environment, said method comprising: a client machine ascertaining that a first instance of an application is active in the client machine, said application being stored in a server machine in communication with the client machine across a network disposed between the client machine and the server machine; in response to said ascertaining that the first instance is active in the client machine, said client machine withholding sending a request for the server machine to cause an application instance of the application to become active in the client machine; after said ascertaining and said withholding, said client machine determining that no instance of the application is active in the client machine; in response to said determining that no instance of the application is active in the client machine, said client machine sending to the server machine a request for the server machine to cause the application instance of the application to become active in the client machine, said application instance becoming active in the client machine as a result of the server machine having responded to the sent request; in response to the application instance becoming active in the client machine, storing application data on storage media local to the client machine, said stored application data comprising an active status indicator and a time duration, said active status indicator indicating that the application instance is active in the client machine, said time duration measured from a time at which the application instance has become active in the client machine; and determining that the time duration has lapsed; and responsive to said determining that the time duration has lapsed, deleting the active status indicator from the application data on the storage media.