Abstract: A system and method for displaying a rich multimedia document in the same window as a desktop window. In one aspect of the invention a client computer connects to a computer network, such as the Internet, and retrieves a channel guide or list of content providers from which a user can select one or more content providers. The client computer retrieves a document associated with a content provider selected from the channel guide. The document is integrated into the desktop window on the client computer. The document received may be an HTML document including hyperlinks for allowing a user to jump to another document (e.g., folder, FTP site, other HTML documents, etc.) associated with the hyperlink.

Abstract: A theme provides a group of multi-media resources for enhancing displays in a graphical user interface to an operating system of a computer according to a topic of the theme. The theme's resources are periodically updated by retrieving updating resources from a remote computer at which the updating resources are stored by a theme provider, so as to provide continually updating enhancements to the graphical user interface display consistent with the theme's topic. The theme's resources can include hypertext templates which define the graphical user interface displays as hypertext pages, allowing the theme to provide a wide variety of enhancements to the displays including text, graphics, hyperlinks, and software components, among others. The theme also enhances a graphical user interface with a view port that plays live or locally cached information from the Internet in each of a plurality of categories, by adding a category for the theme so as to play information from the theme's provider in the view port.

Abstract: A theme provides a group of multi-media resources for enhancing displays in a graphical user interface to an operating system of a computer according to a topic of the theme. The theme's resources are periodically updated by retrieving updating resources from a remote computer at which the updating resources are stored by a theme provider, so as to provide continually updating enhancements to the graphical user interface display consistent with the theme's topic. The theme's resources can include hypertext templates which define the graphical user interface displays as hypertext pages, allowing the theme to provide a wide variety of enhancements to the displays including text, graphics, hyperlinks, and software components, among others. The theme also enhances a graphical user interface with a view port that plays live or locally cached information from the Internet in each of a plurality of categories, by adding a category for the theme so as to play information from the theme's provider in the view port.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for storing compressed file data stored on a disk. The method includes an improved format for the Compressed Volume File (CVF), and more specifically, 10 an improved format for the MDFAT data structure stored within the CVF. The improved format includes using an additional byte for maintaining each entry in the MDFAT data structure which increases the number of sectors within the Sector Heap that can be addressed and accessed. The improved format further allows compressed clusters to be stored in fragments in various portions of vacant storage space located throughout the Sector Heap. The new format for the MDFAT data structure includes a bit that identifies whether each cluster is being stored in fragments. The method stores the locations of each of the fragments in a Fragment Pointer List located in the first sector of the first fragment.