When using Mac OS X and your using different browsers with multiple browser pages (browsers as an example) and clicking the red close button does it actually "close" the program or it does not? I was just curious because I heard it once can't remember but what kind of benefits does it have? thanks
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Stupid question. I know. Please help
- Thread starter jc0481
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it will just close the window, you can also just use "command + w".
the benefits are that you don't have to have windows open when running the program, like if you are using iTunes you don't have to have the player window on your desktop all the time, helps a lot with multitasking. I could never be without it
the benefits are that you don't have to have windows open when running the program, like if you are using iTunes you don't have to have the player window on your desktop all the time, helps a lot with multitasking. I could never be without it
Also: Even if the program is running after closing all its windows, it takes very little system resources (memory, cpu etc). Check with Activity Monitor (Tools in the Program Folder). And when you want to use the program again it is almost instant-on. In OS X it is possible to leave a tremendous amount of programs open at the same time without really affecting overall performance (unless all those programs are doing some simultaneous heavy lifting of course).
It's very easy to check whether a program is actually running or not: just have a look at its Dock icon. If there's a little black triangle under it, it's open. If there isn't, it's not.
And although all current web browsers stay open even after you close their last window (this is a good thing--saves on relaunch time for those who like to leave them running), there are some single-window applications that do auto-quit when you close all their windows. Calculator and iPhoto, for example, do this, and I believe the 10.4 Address Book does, too.
And although all current web browsers stay open even after you close their last window (this is a good thing--saves on relaunch time for those who like to leave them running), there are some single-window applications that do auto-quit when you close all their windows. Calculator and iPhoto, for example, do this, and I believe the 10.4 Address Book does, too.
Address Book stays active if you close the window (I'm under OS X 10.4.1), but the point remains that you shouldn't care. If you close the Address Book window and then later select Address Book from the dock, the window reopens so user confusion is unlikely.Makosuke said:
System Preferences now quits when you close the window, which was not always true. Under Jaguar, the System Preferences application stayed running, but again it didn't really matter.
Does anyone know why some applications quit when closing, while others close but remain running? Not a problem, but i was just wondering whether there was an actual reason, or if it was just arbitrary.
i believe system preferences quits when you close window, can't think of many more.
and to add you can scroll through your open programs by "command + tab" and you can quit a program easier by "command +tab" tab over to the program you want while still holding command then just press Q and it quits
and to add you can scroll through your open programs by "command + tab" and you can quit a program easier by "command +tab" tab over to the program you want while still holding command then just press Q and it quits
I believe the distinction is that an application that allows multiple windows of a given type to be open (which includes most document-oriented applications) should stay open even if zero of those windows are open, whereas an application based on one particular windows (these tend to be utilities) can quit if you close that window. Perhaps in such cases the window itself should now offer a "close" button, but that leads to user annoyance.toneloco2881 said:
But it's not always true. Disk Utility, for example, quits if you close the last window even though you can have many of them open.
This inconsistency is unfortunate because consistency helps ease of use by having applications do what the user expects them to do, and on this issue Apple has not made it clear that a consistent rule is followed.
it's quite arbitrary
From http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/tour/5/
'Keep in mind that closing a window (by clicking the round, red button) will typically not quit the application.'
{emphasis of 'typically' mine}
I'd definitely appreciate some consistency or a common guideline that could make it easier for users to understand the difference when closing would also quit an application. One would expect Apple to follow a consistent rule in its own apps, but they don't in this case!
For me, it matters whether or not an application is running and I would like to be in control of the usage of memory to some extent (although the OS would definitely be optimized to retain an application in memory even after quitting).
This inconsistency was one of the first things I noticed when I got a Mac a month ago. It is annoying in a way because when I initially got it, I remembered reading that Cmd+Q was to quit an app and closing a window would still have the application running (without any visible windows). Now I find that I have to "learn and know" which applications would quit on Cmd+Q and which ones would quit on Cmd+W.Doctor Q said:
From http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/tour/5/
'Keep in mind that closing a window (by clicking the round, red button) will typically not quit the application.'
{emphasis of 'typically' mine}
I'd definitely appreciate some consistency or a common guideline that could make it easier for users to understand the difference when closing would also quit an application. One would expect Apple to follow a consistent rule in its own apps, but they don't in this case!
For me, it matters whether or not an application is running and I would like to be in control of the usage of memory to some extent (although the OS would definitely be optimized to retain an application in memory even after quitting).
wiseguy27 said:... Now I find that I have to "learn and know" which applications would quit on Cmd+Q and which ones would quit on Cmd+W.
....
really you don't have to bother with the "learn and know" thing........just assume that ALL of them are still running until you tell them to quit.......that's how the great majority of programs work on the Mac anyway.....and the relatively few that also quit when you close the window, well since they're not running after you close the window, you don't have to worry about them as far memory control issues are concerned....generally speaking anyway
I suspect you'd never be able to tell the difference. Memory allocated but not in use probably gets swapped out and therefore shouldn't prevent other applications from allocating and using whatever RAM they want. Perhaps when you logout (and applications are closed) there could be split-second delays to swap them in and quit them.wiseguy27 said:
I used to be sure to quit applications I was done with, at least done with for a while, until I realized I was wasting my time - it didn't matter at all.
I dislike the inconsistency because it makes Macs less simple to explain, not because it makes any practical difference in the apps I use.