Closing An Application By The Red Button

[210]

I know this is Windows-esque, but is there a way when you only have one window up of closing that application by clicking on the red cross, instead of the window closing but the application is still open? I do find it irritating that I have to - Q all the time and I can't even - W on the last window to close the application.

If you know what I'm talking about, is there a way of doing this?

 

[QuarterSwede]

Not that I know of. Personally I find Cmd+Q a heck of a lot faster. My hands are almost always on the keyboard though.

 

[dpaanlka]

Thankfully no. This is the way Macs have always functioned. Many of us get annoyed when a Windows program quits just because we closed the last window.

 

[WildCowboy]

No, this is not possible without altering the code of the program. The reason for this is that most of these are apps that people might want to run with no windows open. So automatically quitting the app when the last window is closed would be counter-productive. (There are apps, like System Preferences, that don't have a function if there's no window open, so clicking the red button does in fact quit the entire program.)

I usually use Command-Q, but you have other options as well with the Quit item in the app's menu and the Quit item in the app's Dock icon.

Yes, it's a difference from Windows, but it's one that just about every Mac switcher adapts to rather quickly.

 

[TheAnswer]

Another option you have is keeping the app open until you need to quit it (until you run out of room in RAM, for example), then hold down Command apple, hit Tab to select the app you want to quit, then hit the Q key. You can repeat the Tab and Q sequences multiple times as long as you keep the Command apple key pressed down.

 

[aristobrat]

Thankfully no. This is the way Macs have always functioned. Many of us get annoyed when a Windows program quits just because we closed the last window.

I still am somewhat surprised when applications like iPhoto actually quit-quit when you click the red button.

I know it's because it's a single-window application, but it just seems out-of-place when it does that.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Another option you have is keeping the app open until you need to quit it (until you run out of room in RAM, for example), then hold down Command apple, hit Tab to select the app you want to quit, then hit the Q key. You can repeat the Tab and Q sequences multiple times as long as you keep the Command apple key pressed down.

Hmm, you learn something new everyday. Thanks.

 

[nick004]

210, I have exactly the opposite problem. I switch to Mac last year, never going back. Anyway, I have to use Windows PC's at University and can't stand that I can't cammand + Q a program. It just the way my brain works these day. ALT + F4 just ain't the same

 

[210]

Quit

Ideally, I would like the option of doing both; last window open will close the application and - Q does the same

 

[kolax]

Command - Q works fine for me.

The likes of Windows Messenger would suffer - if you close the last window (i.e. a chat window) you want the whole program to exit?

Command - H is useful too.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

Thankfully no. This is the way Macs have always functioned. Many of us get annoyed when a Windows program quits just because we closed the last window.

Amen.

Welcome to Mac. Deal with it

 

[WildCowboy]

Ideally, I would like the option of doing both; last window open will close the application and - Q does the same

But what about people who use the application with no windows open? What are they supposed to do if the app closes every time they close the last window?

 

[dpaanlka]

Ideally, I would like the option of doing both; last window open will close the application and - Q does the same

That would ruin the natural flow of millions of Mac users who didn't just recently switch.

Bad idea.

Think of it this way - when you close the last window, you haven't actually closed the last visible part of the app - the app's Menu Bar is still there. On Microsoft Windows, closing the last window also gets rid of the last Menu Bar.

 

[TheAnswer]

Ideally, I would like the option of doing both; last window open will close the application and - Q does the same

Just upgrade your Mac with more RAM and leave the apps open...closing apps is so 1987.

 

[Voidness]

Yes, this someting I didn't understand in Mac OS X for a while. Why do some applications quit when you press the red button, but others keep running? I think I understand it now. Here's what I noticed:

Applications which can have multiple windows (such as Safari), or ones which have can have any functionality without its window open (such as iTunes or Mail), will stay running even if you close all its windows. Other applications will quit by pressing the red button.

 

[210]

Ok

I think I'll just do what TheAnswer says and add more RAM

 

[Klrbee25]

Can't this be scripted? I'm too new to write the script myself, and I haven't found anything after searching around google. Oh expert script writers...where are you!!!???

 

[zephead]

Think of it this way - when you close the last window, you haven't actually closed the last visible part of the app - the app's Menu Bar is still there. On Microsoft Windows, closing the last window also gets rid of the last Menu Bar.

Hmm, I never thought of it that way! That's an interesting way to put it, since it's true.

 

[Evangelion]

Thankfully no. This is the way Macs have always functioned. Many of us get annoyed when a Windows program quits just because we closed the last window.

But what's the benefit? I mean, suppose I'm browsing the web with Safari. I then close the window through the Red X. The window closes but the app remains running. How does that help me? If I re-open Safari, will it be where it was when I closed the window? No, it's right back at the start.

 

[Cameront9]

But what's the benefit? I mean, suppose I'm browsing the web with Safari. I then close the window through the Red X. The window closes but the app remains running. How does that help me? If I re-open Safari, will it be where it was when I closed the window? No, it's right back at the start.

Well say you want to download something through safari in the background and don't want the window open. All you have to do is start the download, then close the Safari window. Safari's still running, since you didn't quit it, but you don't have any windows open. Seems like a benefit to me.

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

But what's the benefit? I mean, suppose I'm browsing the web with Safari. I then close the window through the Red X. The window closes but the app remains running. How does that help me? If I re-open Safari, will it be where it was when I closed the window? No, it's right back at the start.

Because it takes the program a shorter amount of time to open a new window than load up entirely. Sure, the time difference may be relatively small on Safari, but on programs like Photoshop, having the program open all the time is something which I, as a designer, can't even begin to fathom being without.

EDIT: I just informally tested Safari. It took about 4 seconds from when I clicked the icon until the webpage came up in it's entirety. Then, I closed the window and clicked on Safari again, to get a new window. That time, it was well under two seconds.

 

[prostuff1]

Like all the other mac people here i like the way the red button works as opposed to the way it works in windows. Changing it now would utterly screw all the mac loyalist that have been doing it this way since the beginning of time.

Also, it might have helped to do a search before posting this question. It has been asked many, many, many times and it is one of those things a switcher has to get use to. Lets try not to beat a dead horse.

 

[dpaanlka]

But what's the benefit? I mean, suppose I'm browsing the web with Safari. I then close the window through the Red X. The window closes but the app remains running. How does that help me? If I re-open Safari, will it be where it was when I closed the window? No, it's right back at the start.

What's the benefit of talking about this? This is the way it works on a Mac, and it isn't going to change. I understand, it is different from Windows. This may be strange and alien to some people, but you simply have to re-train yourself for this slight difference. I can think of lots of much worse things in Windows:

• What is the benefit of having a menu bar waste space in every single window?
• What is the benefit of having a program completely quit just because you closed the last window? Now I have to wait for this crap to re-launch?
• What is the benefit of maximizing every pointless window to take up the entire screen?
• What exactly is the benefit of Flip 3D??? Is there one? Is it not exactly the same as Alt-Tab? Does it serve any purpose at all?

 

[Evangelion]

Because it takes the program a shorter amount of time to open a new window than load up entirely.

It's neglible even on my 1.25Ghz Mac Mini. So for all intents and purposes, there is no benefit.

Sure, the time difference may be relatively small on Safari, but on programs like Photoshop, having the program open all the time is something which I, as a designer, can't even begin to fathom being without.

If that is the case, why close the window at all? Just minimize the app away, and you are all set.

As to the example of downloading something in the background.... Well, I can do that in Windows and Firefox without any problems. I can jsut close the browser-window, while leaving the doanload-window open.

 

[Evangelion]

What's the benefit of talking about this? This is the way it works on a Mac, and it isn't going to change.

I'm not asking for it to be changed, I'm just asking what benefit does the Mac-way offer when compared to the "Windows-way".

I can think of lots of much worse things in Windows:

Your list is completely irrelevant to the discussion at hand, and it seems that you are assuming that I hate how Mac works, whereas I prefer how Windows works? But anyway...

[*]What is the benefit of having a menu bar waste space in every single window?

The menubar is closer to the contents of the app. Also, per-window menubars work better with multiple monitors and it makes it more obvious to determine which app the menubar is attached to. that said, I prefer the Mac-menubar.

[*]What is the benefit of having a program completely quit just because you closed the last window? Now I have to wait for this crap to re-launch?

if you simply want the app to "go away" without closing it, you can minimize it. That way you can actually continue from where you left off. And I can (again) repeat my question: what benefit is there in running an app without any way of actually USING the app? The fact that it opens a fraction of a second faster the next time you launch the app?

[*]What is the benefit of maximizing every pointless window to take up the entire screen?

Well, I have noticed that it helps me focus on the task at hand when I can only see the one app I'm using.

[*]What exactly is the benefit of Flip 3D???

Beats me.

But seriously: I asked a question about the benefit the Mac-way offers when compared to the Windows-way. And what did you do? Say that there's no point in discussing it since it will not be changed, and then you proceeded to whine about Windows. "This is the way it has always been and this is the way it shall always be! So stop talking about it!"