Computer user interface system and method having book image features

A method for displaying a computer-based set of information on a display screen controlled by a computer-based information browsing device, comprising the steps of:

• displaying said set of information as a book image, respective portions of said set of information being displayed as an open page of said book image that overlaps another page that was previously moved from a right side of said book to the left side of said book, and open pages of said book remain at a fixed location with respect to said display screen as different pages of said book image are displayed;
• displaying a thickness image of said book image corresponding to an amount of said information on a left side and a right side of said display screen, a left portion of said thickness image displayed on said left side of said screen being proportional to a first amount of the information preceding a point in said set of information currently being displayed and a right portion of said thickness image displayed on said right side of said display screen being proportional to a second amount of information following the point in said set of information currently being displayed;
• displaying a finger-bookmark in a first image format on said display screen corresponding to a finger-bookmark position;
• displaying a permanent bookmark in a second image format on said display screen corresponding to a permanent bookmark position;
• producing a new bookmark corresponding to a currently displayed image;
• displaying said new bookmark in at least one of said first image format or said second image format;
• and
• jumping to a jump position in said set of information corresponding to a current position of an instrument on a sensor device of said computer-based information browsing device.

An operating system method for browsing a computer-based set of operating system related entities, comprising the steps of:

• generating a command to move a pointer through said set of operating system related entities, said operating system entities including at least one of
• respective labeled computer files,
• a collection of hierarchically arranged computer files, and
• a software application user interface of a software application;
• displaying said set of operating system related entities in respective book images and organized in groups, a portion of said system related entities being displayed as being graphically contained within a book image for one of the operating system related entities;
• moving said pointer in at least one of a forward direction and a backward direction through said computer-based set of operating system related entities in response to said command generated in said generating step;
• adjusting a speed of said movement of said pointer through said computer-based set of operating system related entities corresponding to said command generated in said generating step;
• jumping to a selected location in said computer-based set of operating system related entities, said jumping step comprising the steps of,
• receiving a jump command, and
• moving said pointer from a current position in said computer-based set of operating system related entities to a user-defined jump position;
• and
• bookmarking a desired portion of said computer-based set of operating system related entities, said desired portion comprising a selected subset of a text or a graphics information, said bookmarking step comprising the steps of,
• receiving a bookmark command via a user-entry, and
• marking said desired portion of said computer-based set of operating system related entities corresponding to said user entry.

An operating system user interface apparatus, comprising:

• a display;
• a computer connected to said display, comprising,
• means for arranging a set of operating system related entities hosted on the computer into a book, the book having a subset of said set of operating system related entities presented on at least one page of said book and/or another book, said operating system entities including at least one of
• respective labeled computer files,
• a collection of hierarchically arranged computer files, and
• a software application user interface of a software application, wherein
• said means for arranging includes,
• means for labeling each book with a respective portion of said subset of said operating system related entities, and
• means for selecting a book from the set of books, comprising,
• a first display mechanism that displays on said display said respective portions of said books as a book document image comprising pages, said pages corresponding to said respective portions of said books,
• a generating mechanism that generates a command for moving through said pages,
• a second display means for displaying an animated image of said pages of said book document on said display, said animated image being at least one of flipped, scrolled, slid and flashed, and
• a selecting mechanism that selects said book when a selected one of said pages containing a selection portion of said book is displayed by said second display mechanism.