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AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorsSteven J. Bailey, Eric Berman, Coyle Brett Marl, Luis Talavera
Estimating the term…
A computer-implemented messaging application (e.g., e-mail, browser, paging) lists messages addressed to a user in a graphical message window of a graphical user interface. The message window lists both read and unread messages. The read messages are displayed visually differently than the unread messages to distinguish between the two types. A highlight bar identifies a particular message in the list. The message window has a preview pane in which the highlighted message can be previewed by a user without opening that message into a separate window. Heuristics are employed to determine whether the user is likely to be reading the message while it is displayed in the preview pane. For instance, scrolling the message in the preview pane is evidence that the user is likely to be reading the message. If any heuristic condition is met, the message is marked as read.
A method for distinguishing messages to be read by a user from messages that have been read by the user, the messages being listed in a graphical message window, the message window having a preview pane which enables the user to view content of at least one listed message without opening the message into a separate graphical window, the method comprising the following steps:
A method for distinguishing messages to be read by a user from messages that have been read by the user, the messages being listed in a graphical message window, the message window having a preview pane which enables the user to view content of at least one listed message without opening the message into a separate graphical window, the method comprising the following steps:
In a graphical message window for displaying a list of messages addressed to a user in which each message can be viewed in a preview pane of the graphical message window without opening the message into a separate graphical window, a method for distinguishing messages to be read by the user from messages that have been read by the user comprises the step of marking the message as read if the user scrolls the message in the preview pane.
A computing apparatus comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.