A basic mac question from a new switcher.

[yashar]

How do I actually make a program completely close when I click the red X without having to press Command+Q every time?

An example is in preview. I click a picture and it opens in preview, I close the window and preview is still open. I want it to exit fully.

[itsoncooldown]

I don't believe there is a setting to do that. It's one of the things you get use to after using Windows for a while. Much like using a one-button mouse. I believe the way a program closes is in the app's code. Why some programs close on clicking X and some don't.

[wastern]

How do I actually make a program completely close when I click the red X without having to press Command+Q every time?

An example is in preview. I click a picture and it opens in preview, I close the window and preview is still open. I want it to exit fully.

Preview > Quit in the menu bar

Command + Q

Right click the Dock icon > Quit

Apple+tab to the application, while still holding down Apple press Q


Its actually a nice feature for a lot of applications...being able to close all windows without quiting the app. Mail, iChat, and iTunes are good examples. Also closing all browser windows without quiting the app so it opens quick next time you need to use it which will happen sooner rather then later usually

OS X handles memory well, so having a few extra things hanging out in the Dock isn't a big deal. Its rare for me to have less then 10 things open in the Dock, even if I'm only using 1 or 2 of them at the time

[yashar]

Preview > Quit in the menu bar

Command + Q

Right click the Dock icon > Quit

Apple+tab to the application, while still holding down Apple press Q


Its actually a nice feature for a lot of applications...being able to close all windows without quiting the app. Mail, iChat, and iTunes are good examples. Also closing all browser windows without quiting the app so it opens quick next time you need to use it which will happen sooner rather then later usually

OS X handles memory well, so having a few extra things hanging out in the Dock isn't a big deal. Its rare for me to have less then 10 things open in the Dock, even if I'm only using 1 or 2 of them at the time
Yea I do like having the programs not close for itunes, firefox, mail. But there are just some programs that I want to close instantly. Maybe there might be a program?

[wastern]

Yea I do like having the programs not close for itunes, firefox, mail. But there are just some programs that I want to close instantly. Maybe there might be a program?

Not one I've seen.

Maybe there is a way you can alter the app package, but I haven't seen it

[deegraww]

Trust me as someone that also ticked off to begin with you stop closing apps the PC way and start doing it the Mac way. It's time to adapt man.

[ArmpitOfDeath]

Yup.

Since you have moved (commiserations) it is time to ditch the PC habits and learn the Apple habits. Get mo' memory, have mo' apps running at once, get mo' done. If you have bad Windows habits, working with multiple apps can be quite a revelation in terms of efficiency once you get used to OS X. Get used to not closing stuff down and working smarter on multiple apps. And with stuff like Preview and other incidental apps, hitting Cmd-Q will become second nature after a while.

However, you can port what you've un/relearned back to Windows for a more stable experience on better - albeit less pretty - hardware of course... :p

[happydays]

Once you get used to the way mac works, you will miss it when you have to go back to a pc. You can just leave the apps open, like a text editor, and when you need it again later in the day you won't have to launch the app again, just click it and boom, a new doc/window.

I hate azureus because when you close it, it quits the app. Cant tell you how many times i've killed my downloads lol.

[tokenuser]

Yup.

Since you have moved (commiserations) it is time to ditch the PC habits and learn the Apple habits. Get mo' memory, have mo' apps running at once, get mo' done. If you have bad Windows habits, working with multiple apps can be quite a revelation in terms of efficiency once you get used to OS X. Get used to not closing stuff down and working smarter on multiple apps. And with stuff like Preview and other incidental apps, hitting Cmd-Q will become second nature after a while. WTF?? You make it sound like only MacOSX can run multiple apps and allow you to switch between them ... thats been pretty much a core paradigm of Windows since Version 2.0. While I was typing this response, I had Word 2007 saving a doc in Word 97-2003 compatability mode while converting it to a searchable PDF doc via Adobe. The embedded Project, Visio, and assorted screenshots converted beautifully and quickly before being sent out as attachments in a Outlook 2007. Those screen shots were captured from IE 7.0 using the local version of our web based software I had running on the laptop using an Apache Tomcat / Sybase database combination. Thats quite a load ... and Windows XP handled it smoothly in 1GB of RAM on a 2.0GHz Centrino Duo CPU.

Running dual monitors (using the default Intel graphics chip built into my laptop) helped as well, allowing me to drag windows to the second screen wile I worked on the primary doc.

Please - don't make it look like MacOS is the only way to do things. Its a computer. Its an OS. No matter what Steve Jobs tells you - its not a religion.

[ArmpitOfDeath]

WTF?? You make it sound like only MacOSX can run multiple apps and allow you to switch between them ... thats been pretty much a core paradigm of Windows since Version 2.0. While I was typing this response, I had Word 2007 saving a doc in Word 97-2003 compatability mode while converting it to a searchable PDF doc via Adobe. The embedded Project, Visio, and assorted screenshots converted beautifully and quickly before being sent out as attachments in a Outlook 2007. Those screen shots were captured from IE 7.0 using the local version of our web based software I had running on the laptop using an Apache Tomcat / Sybase database combination. Thats quite a load ... and Windows XP handled it smoothly in 1GB of RAM on a 2.0GHz Centrino Duo CPU.

Running dual monitors (using the default Intel graphics chip built into my laptop) helped as well, allowing me to drag windows to the second screen wile I worked on the primary doc.

Please - don't make it look like MacOS is the only way to do things. Its a computer. Its an OS. No matter what Steve Jobs tells you - its not a religion.

After switching wholesale and after several Macbook Pros, two Macbooks, three iMacs and seven (I think) Pros over the course of last year, I rate the Apple hardware + OS X 'total ownership' experience as lacking in substance compared to that of comparable Windows hardware + Windows (be it XP or Vista). Great for people who don't quite know what they're doing but who want to look as they do, but doesn't work for someone like me who is competent and values versatility and reliability over superficial 'ain't it cool' look & feel aspects.

You're right, it is just an OS and I look at it from the POV of the applications that run on the platform, as well as it's usefulness in a daily context once you're familiar with the platform. And since it's my own money, I make a point of knowing my business tools inside out, and that includes the OS X platform. And for getting things done with my level of expertise and demands on the systems I make, I rate the Apple ecosystem as inferior to what I can get from the likes of Microsoft + Dell, HP, etc.

OS X's look & feel does however have an advantage in the way you see and work with multiple apps - an advantage that is quite subtle, but once you get used to working that way was certainly an improvement for me. That was about the sole really tangible benefit I got from my switch over the year and as I wrote, a benefit which incidentally I realised I can take back with me to Windows by modifying the way I lay out and work with my desktop space.

Which is why I'm saying that if you have to jump on the bandwagon and use a Mac, drop the Windows habits and stop looking for the Mac equivalent of Windows things if you're on a Mac... Just learn how to use a Mac.

[siraim]

How do I actually make a program completely close when I click the red X without having to press Command+Q every time?

An example is in preview. I click a picture and it opens in preview, I close the window and preview is still open. I want it to exit fully.

How far away from your keyboard are you? Normally, mac driving involves a left hand on the keyboard with the right hand on the mouse. (Unless you're one of those broken lefties.)

Or just leave the apps open. If they're not actively doing anything, they won't eat up much memory. When you were running windows, I assume you left Thunderbird, Firefox, Solitaire and all of your other various apps open while you worked.

[rabidbadger]

In Mac land:

If the program only has one possible window, it will quit when clicking red button, ie: system preferences, DVD player...

If there is any way a program can possibly have a second window open, red button will not quit the app.

[scoobydiesel]

ive done well with learning how to deal with the quiting and such but it is odd...

[yashar]

When I go back to my windows machine I press alt+q and I'm like wtf when nothing happens. It takes about 3 seconds before I realize haha.

[deegraww]

When I go back to my windows machine I press alt+q and I'm like wtf when nothing happens. It takes about 3 seconds before I realize haha.


I do the same thing with double clicking the title bar in widows I want it to move to the right of my Dock but it just makes it bigger :(

[scotthai]

As a new member to the site, forums, etc - I was interested in reading what everyone has to say in regards to a simple question (closing an application). Yes, it is true, with a mac you do need to close out of the program (apple+q) swirrly-looping-with apple-button+q, anyways, it is nice to close the window or application view, while maintaining the availability of the program having been compiled and ready for my bidding. I was brought up on the windows system, 93, good year, built my first machine when I was 8 with my dad (if you still reading - great), anyways, I know the struggle a new-to-mac user would have in a completely new work space. Trust me, get two monitors, upgrade the graphics card, up the ram, invest wisely in software and if your still troubled by the oddities in the mac, just get virtual pc. It runs better off a mac anyways.

all in all the mac is a beautiful system, it is built off unix, so you can customize your working experience with shell commands from the terminal (hd-applications-utilities-terminal) and then you can do anything. This is now a rant, but after my switch to mac, I have never seen a reason to go back. I can say that anyone who is now running a mac after a pc experience is completely overjoyed by the lack of .dll errors and the lack of trojans, however, it is still possible to infect a mac if your running virtual pc, so ditch the porn, don't look for kegens or free software, and you can have the complete mixed experience. This is good probably for the 10% of people who do web design and need to have the complete cross-browser environment. With Leopard on the horizon, life can only get better.

-Scott

[acidburn]

swirrly-looping-with apple-button


aka the Command Key

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/f/ff/150px-Apple_key.jpg

[rabidbadger]

aka the Command Key

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/f/ff/150px-Apple_key.jpg

Swedish Campground (http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Swedish_Campground.txt&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium&search=command%20key) :)