1. A method, comprising: starting an application having multiple possible states and multiple possible state transitions, said application having rules specifying computer screen display actions to be performed upon state transitions of said application; placing said application in a current display mode and displaying said current display mode on a computer screen; monitoring the state of said software application; upon a state transition of from a current state to a new state, said state transition not initiated by a user of said application, applying a rule associated with said state transition to determine a new display mode; changing a display mode of said application from said current display mode to said new display mode based upon said rules; and displaying said new display mode on said computer screen.