Why turn off Indicator Lights for Apps?

Personally I like them, but options are good.

Because Apple is trying to get people used to the idea of not worrying about whether an app is actually open or not, since in reality it makes little difference anymore, especially if you have 8GB+ of RAM and an SSD. I think Photoshop is the only app in my dock that takes more than once bounce to open on my iMac.

admanimal said:

Because Apple is trying to get people used to the idea of not worrying about whether an app is actually open or not, since in reality it makes little difference anymore.

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This. I have them turned off. I have no idea which of the apps in my dock are open. Neither do I care!

I have the indicators on, mainly out of habit.

I like the indicator lights. However the option to turn them off in Lion is a plus because it gives you a choice.

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I have them off too. All apps on my dock are running most of the time, so I prefer the cleaner look without the lights.

I cant imagine why anyone wouldn't want them on, and I can't understand how so many people are excited about being able to turn them off.

I suppose if all you do is browse the web its great. Otherwise, stop trying to decide whats best for me (and getting it wrong), Apple.

ViviUO said:

I cant imagine why anyone wouldn't want them on, and I can't understand how so many people are excited about being able to turn them off.

I suppose if all you do is browse the web its great. Otherwise, stop trying to decide whats best for me (and getting it wrong), Apple.

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How is apple giving you an option like them trying to decide what's best for you? It's not like you're obligated to have it set a particular way - besides, your preferred setting in this case happens to be the default.

Well apparently, Apple has changed the memory management system of Lion. If you don't use an app for an extended period of time (not sure how long) it will actually release most of if not all of the memory it is using. That is why the dock indicator lights are off by default now in Lion.

EDIT: Just checked my system. I have had iTunes open all day, but haven't used it in >6 hours. It is only using 30MB of memory compared to the usual 150MB-200MB it normally uses.

My dock indicator lights were on when I downloaded Lion. I haven't touched that setting, and they are one right now.

ViviUO said:

I cant imagine why anyone wouldn't want them on, and I can't understand how so many people are excited about being able to turn them off.

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I use my dock only to show the open applications - there is never anything on it that's not open so the light is just extraneous. I used to turn it off with Clear Dock but it's nice to have an option in the system too.

I like to have it on

my most used apps are in the dock and I like to see what I have open, if I am not using an app then close it

I use numbers twice a month so it is not in my dock, after I have used it I close it so it is removed from the dock as it's not needed

don't see the point of having everything left running just incase you might want to use it