Full screen applications randomly minimize, other apps lose focus

I am having a terrible time with this ONE problem. other than this, I kinda
like this new OS.

Here is the problem:

If I am running a full screen application (a game for instance), the window
will sometimes minimize itself to the system tray. I have no other foreground
applications running when this happens, so it just minimizes and all I am
looking at is my desktop. I tried closing out any bacground applications
(anti virus included) that I did not think were vital for the system to run
properly without success. I have noticed, however, that this does not happen
if I run Internet Explorer full screen.

Also, in other programs that might not be full screen, the program I am
working in will simply lose focus. This happens in nearly all programs as far
as I can tell (I lost focus of this window twice so far while I tried to
write this). It is a SERIOUS problem when I am working in photoshop that is
causing me a lot of grief.

It is possible that someone has come across this and knows of a solution to
this, and that would be great. But if not, I would settle for steps on how to
force focus on a program, and how to force a particular application to remain
full-screen.

Thanks in advance for any help