Microsoft Patents OS Shutdown

An anonymous reader writes "You would think that shutting down software could be fairly simple from an end user's view. If I ask you to shut it down, would you mind shutting it actually down, please? Well, it's a bit more complicated than that, because you need to ask the user if they really want to shut down and if unsaved documents should be saved. And that warrants a patent that also covers Mac OS X. Next time you shut down Windows, remember how complicated it is for Windows to shut down. Perhaps that is the reason why this procedure can take minutes in some cases."

Comments

The patent

[Infonaut]

Here's the USPTO link. The abstract:

A user interface and scheme is provided for facilitating shutting down an operating system. Aspects include the operating system receiving a command to initiate shut down, and automatically terminating graphical user interface (GUI) applications that delay shut down which do not have top level windows. Also, aspects provide a user, through a graphical user interface, the ability to automatically terminate all running applications in response to determining that a running GUI application has a top level window.

More Information and Clarification

[Grond]

I can't figure out which patent or application the article is referring to. This patent issued to Microsoft last year and covers OS shutdown methods, so I think it's the right one. The first claim is this:

One or more computer readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed on a computer system, perform a method comprising:
        receiving information from an application regarding a task that the application is configured to perform;
        receiving a command to initiate operating system shut down while the application is running;
        determining that the operating system shut down should be delayed due to a status of the application; and
        displaying the information received from the application on a graphical user interface during a period in which the operating system shut down is being delayed, the graphical user interface showing that the application is running.

Basically it covers delaying shutdown while an application wraps something up and informing the user that this is happening via a GUI. The more detailed claims cover the circumstances under which this might occur (e.g., a negative response from the application, no response from the application, etc).

This patent does not cover what Windows XP or OS X do in this circumstance. In fact, the behaviors of XP and OS X are explicitly mentioned in the specification, and the patent is meant to cover an improved method for handling the situation.

Re:Only 1998?

[stonewallred]

Are you counting on the surge protectors to protect your stuff? Or just using them for brief line fluctuations? A consumer grade surge protector is useless for lightning induced power surges.