1. An operating system for use in a computer system comprising: a graphical user interface configured to generate at least one dialog box request in response to a user input provided on a display device; a plurality of dialogs each for controlling a display of and interactivity with an associated dialog box in response to a dialog box control request; and a dialog box control system, responsive to a selected one of a plurality of dialog launch modalities, said dialog box control system constructed and arranged to close open dialog boxes not having a predetermined relationship with said selected dialog box and to control generation of said one or more system calls within the operating system and to control providing said dialog box control requests generated by said graphical user interface to said plurality of dialogs to provide an associated degree of display clarity through the display of only those dialog boxes that have a predetermined relationship with an active dialog box, and an extent of system interactivity beyond said active dialog box through control of commands to the operating system, wherein said degree of display clarity and said extent of system interactivity are associated with said selected dialog box modality.
1. An operating system for use in a computer system comprising: a graphical user interface configured to generate at least one dialog box request in response to a user input provided on a display device; a plurality of dialogs each for controlling a display of and interactivity with an associated dialog box in response to a dialog box control request; and a dialog box control system, responsive to a selected one of a plurality of dialog launch modalities, said dialog box control system constructed and arranged to close open dialog boxes not having a predetermined relationship with said selected dialog box and to control generation of said one or more system calls within the operating system and to control providing said dialog box control requests generated by said graphical user interface to said plurality of dialogs to provide an associated degree of display clarity through the display of only those dialog boxes that have a predetermined relationship with an active dialog box, and an extent of system interactivity beyond said active dialog box through control of commands to the operating system, wherein said degree of display clarity and said extent of system interactivity are associated with said selected dialog box modality. 2. The operating system of claim 1, wherein said dialog box control system logically associates the plurality of dialog boxes in a hierarchical relationship based on a location of a representative dialog launch display element used to launch each dialog box, and further wherein said dialog launch modalities comprise: a modal dialog launch modality for which said dialog box control system provides a first degree of display clarity and a first extent of system interactivity beyond said active dialog box; and a semi-modeless dialog launch modality for which said dialog box control system provides a second degree of display clarity approximately the same as said first degree of display clarity and a second extent of system interactivity beyond said active dialog box that is greater than said first extent of system interactivity.