NPERATING METHODS FOR A UNIVERSAL CLIENT DEVICE PERMITTING A COMPUTER TO RECEIVE AND DISPLAY INFORMATION FROM SEVERAL SPECIAL APPLICATIONS SIMUTANEOUSLY

A Universal Client with a self-contained scripting language called GUIScript allows computing systems of varying architectures linked to the Internet or connected by an Intranet to run the same application software without modification or recompilation. Using a client-server architecture, the Universal Client receives GUIScript from the server, which commands the Universal Client to display certain graphical user interface (GUI) objects. The GUIScript also describes the behavior of the GUI objects presented by the Universal Client, thus providing a personality which defines the client application without changing the Universal Client's software. The Universal Client can also send GUIScript to the server to cause the server to execute commands. A method of operating the computer system using the Universal Client and GUIScript is described.