Back in October 2005, Apple filed a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office about "System and method for computing a desktop picture." Last Thursday, details of the said creation were published for the first time with credits going to employees Ralph Brunner, Imran Chaudhri, and Mark Zimmer.

Accordingly, the Mac OS X operating system will be enhanced with the addition of active desktop pictures, or desktop backgrounds that can include motion graphics. These, then, will alter themselves depending on user actions or the time of the day. The technique will reduce requirements for both VRAM and RAM because static picture files will no longer be used.

Apple went on to explain that since the pictures are being computed quickly by a GPU, they now can be made to move on demand. Part of its patent reads,

This includes movement, for example, when logging in, logging out, and transitioning to and from a screen saver, providing a seamless experience. It can also include slow movement, such as seen when a soft tree shadow is cast, with the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze, or slow movement over time, or concerted movement to mark the passing of time (e.g., a noticeable change to pattern or color every hour).

The "active desktop" patent has many potential uses based on the way Apple described it. Some of the other features include computation of several gradations over time hence mimicking the changes in the color of the sky. As if all of these are not enough, Apple also hinted that users can further enhance the experience using an editing tool.

As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the foregoing examples are provided as just a few examples of the many types of events that may be used to trigger a change in the desktop picture, and are not intended to be an exhaustive list. It will be appreciated that various other types of events may be used to trigger a change in the desktop picture and are within the scope of the present invention.