According to smh.com.au Microsoft patented double-clicking on 27th April. This has been in the news since 4th June, but not many people have found this.
While digging today I came across this. Microsoft claims it invented double-clicking, which is stupid, as it most probably didn’t.
An alternative function of the application is launched if the button is pressed for a long, (e.g., at least one second), period of time. Still another function can be launched if the application button is pressed multiple times within a short period of time, e.g., double click.
This will annoy operating system developers, especially Linux ones, who will have to use the sigle click system. Personally I prefer double-click, as if I slip the program/file loads.
The inventors appear to be Charlton E. Lui and Jeffrey R. Blum.
Last year, M$ patented the FAT file-system. The Public Patent Foundation has formed a formal request for this patent to be revoked; as it hinders competitors improving on it.
Next thing you know Microsoft will patent breathing while typing.
