why cant the red button close the program?

S

scuzzo84

Registered
say I have textEdit icon on the dock. I click it, write a sentence, save, and then click red button and it closes the window but there is still an arrow under the textedit icon on doc. So I click textedit dock icon and it opens a blank text window. How come it doesnt open the doc I was just working on and instead just opens a new textedit file? What the heck is the purpose of the red button.
 
The red button merely closes the window as oppose to quitting the application like windows does for example (same as Key Command Apple + W)

OsX is geared towards using key commands, so simply Apple + Tab (bing) to the desired application and Apple + Q (Quit) will close it.
 
This has been asked a ton of times and it has its reasons. The main one being that since the Macintosh Finder has a universal menubar, it's not always necessary to have the close button quit the application. Sometimes all you want to do it close the window and open a new one without quitting from the application. Since Windows has a menubar for EACH window in EACH application, the X button closes the window and appliucation. If you notice, sometimes in Windows you'll see what appear to be TWO X buttons. One for the main window, and one to the right of the menu within that window. The X on the Windows Explorer window will quit out of the application, while the X that's on the menubar will only close that document. Redundant and confusing, especially for a new user. In general, it's a waste of space if you ask me. This is why windows in the Macintosh Finder tend to be pretty uncluttered and neat.

I only wish that OS X was more consistent with this, because some apps (like System Preferences) will close once the red button is selected. This also happened with Mac OS 9's Control Panel apps as well. If anyone should follow the Human Interface Design rules, it should be Apple. :rolleyes:
 
nixgeek said:
I only wish that OS X was more consistent with this, because some apps (like System Preferences) will close once the red button is selected. This also happened with Mac OS 9's Control Panel apps as well. If anyone should follow the Human Interface Design rules, it should be Apple. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I agree here -- System Preferences used to stay open (I believe, up until 10.3) when you clicked the red button.

Now, it seems Apple has gone toward a more "if it only ever has one window, red button will close the application" thing.

And i have to concur here: having the red button quit the application would be very counter-intuitive. Imagine using TextEdit like you are, but having TWO documents open... click the red button on one of them, and POOF! Both documents close, since you quit TextEdit by click the red button. Not a good scenario. I understand that Mac OS X is similar, and very different at the same time, to Windows -- but we'll help you get used to the user interface here if you like! My suggestion would be to try and learn the way Mac OS X works, instead of using it like Windows -- I think you'll be pleasantly surprised and may find the way Mac OS X handles things more elegant, simple, and easy to understand.
 
ok then say i open textedit, write something, close window with red button, then how can I close it for good with out clicking the dock icon for text edit again?
 
File-->Quit (On OS X, it's the Application name next to the Apple menu, and then Quit.)

Apple-Q on the keyboard.

Ctrl-Click/Right-click the Dock icon of the open application and Quit.
 
Yep -- if you simply close the document with the red button, TextEdit will still be the "active" application (or the "foreground" application) -- you can verify this by looking at the menubar and verifying that it still says "TextEdit" next to the Apple menu.

Then, all of nixgeek's shortcuts will quit TextEdit. I find Command-Q the easiest and quickest.
 
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