Method and apparatus for determining preferred controls for an upgradable operating system
AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorFelix Gerard Torquil Ifor Andrew
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for allowing an operating system to be upgraded without destroying the compatibility of applications written for the operating system is disclosed. When an application is created, the application developer identifies in the code of the application whether a control has been customized or not customized by the application. When the application is being executed on the operating system, the operating system can distinguish between customized and non-customized controls so as to be able to provide upgraded controls for those controls that have not been customized.
Claims30
A method for allowing an operating system to be upgraded without destroying the compatibility of applications written for the operating system, comprising the steps of;
- identifying a request for a control by an application being executed on the operating system;
- determining whether the application has identified the control as customizable;
- implementing the control with an upgradable set of features if the control has not been identified as customizable;
- and
- implementing the control with a non-upgradable set of features if the control has been identified as customizable.
A method of implementing an interface in an operating system, comprising the steps of:
- a). defining an application to run on the operating system;
- b). requesting an interface predefined in the operating system, the interface having first methods, properties and events;
- c). determining in the operating system if at least one of an upgradable method, property and event is available as a result of an upgrade of the operating system;
- d). implementing the interface using the at least one of an upgradable method, property and event when a first identifier is used in an application;
- and
- e). implementing the interface using the first methods, properties and events when the first identifier is not used in the application.
A method of implementing a control in an operating system, comprising the steps of:
- a). defining an application to run on the operating system;
- b). requesting a control predefined in the operating system, the control having a first set of features;
- c). determining in the operating system if at least one of an upgradable feature is available as a result of an upgrade in the operating system;
- d). implementing the control using at least one of an upgraded feature when a first identifier is used in an application;
- and
- e). implementing the control using the first set of features when the first identifier is not used in the application.
A computer system for implementing a control when an application is run on an operating system, comprising:
- means for receiving a request for a control;
- means for implementing the control with an upgradable set of features when the control is identified by a first identifier;
- and
- means for implementing the control with a non-upgradable set of features when the control is not identified by the first identifier.
A computer system for implementing an interface when an application is run on an operating system, comprising:
- means for receiving a request for an interface;
- means for implementing the interface with an upgradable set of methods, properties and events when the interface is identified by a first identifier, said upgradable set of methods, properties and events being available as a result of an upgrade to the operating system;
- and
- means for implementing the interface with a non-upgradable set of methods, properties, and events when the interface is not identified by the first identifier.
A method for implementing a control when an application is run on an operating system, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a request for a control;
- implementing the control with an upgradable set of features when the control is identified by a first identifier;
- and
- implementing the control with a non-upgradable set of features when the control is not identified by the first identifier.
A method of implementing an interface when an application is run on an operating system, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a request for an interface;
- implementing the interface with an upgradable set of methods, properties and events when the interface is identified by a first identifier, said upgradable set of methods, properties and events being available as a result of an upgrade to the operating system;
- and
- implementing the interface with a non-upgradable set of methods, properties and events when the interface is not identified by the first identifier.
A method for using an operating system having a set of original features and an upgraded set of features, comprising:
- implementing a control with the upgraded set of features when the control has not been customized;
- and
- implementing the control with the set of original features when the control has been customized.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.