Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncrlnk!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpda!hpdslab!hpdsla!garye
From: garye@hpdsla.HP.COM (Gary Ericson)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: The Window Focus Problem
Message-ID: <2690006@hpdsla.HP.COM>
Date: 19 Dec 88 19:20:25 GMT
References: <663@sdics.ucsd.EDU>
Organization: HP - Pacific Technology Park
Lines: 18

> For example, I frequently have tasks running in two or more windows at once.
> ...
> Even though my cursor remains most of the time in
> the latter window, I would be extremely annoyed by a system that reduced my
> ability to read other windows.
> --Alan Wexelblat
----------

I agree that de-focusing all windows but *the one I'm using* would probably be 
annoying.  What about using some optical tricks to give a 3D *look* to the
display so that windows on top seem to be *closer* than ones underneath?  For
instance using shadows and/or making the windows in the back smaller (including
the font size) - the ones furthest back would be the smallest, and the user
could choose how quickly windows got smaller (i.e., the *depth* of his overall
display), and two windows side-by-side would be the same size.

Gary Ericson - Hewlett-Packard, Technical Systems Division
               phone: (408)746-5098  mailstop: 101N  email: gary@hpdsla9.hp.com