Implement a "do not disturb / distract me" mode in Windows

Question

I want to implement a "do not disturb" mode in my application. Basically they enable this mode, and we block certain applications like MSN / Skype / etc from disrupting the users' focus.

It's an online game and some users have requested this and we'd like to experiment trying it.

I am not sure where to start. Does Windows have a global "busy" mode that apps like Skype are sensitive to? I have heard about Windows Presentation Mode, but I think it only gets us half way there.

Otherwise, is there a good-bear way to programmatically set Skype / IM apps to "busy"?

Answer 1

I don't know of any general mechanism, but it looks like the Skype Public API supports this (e.g. setting user to "do not disturb").

Looks like you may have to code for various specific IM client APIs, unfortunately.