closing apps completely?

[prophet621]

Is there any setting I can change so that when I click the red 'X' that app closes completely rather than partially close?

It's really annoying when I think I closed half a dozen apps only to find out they are still running and pulling resources.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Just key Apple-Tab to access running applications and Apple-Q to quit them.

Edit: Besides, this is OSX. What resources are these open apps 'pulling' if they're not doing anything?

 

[mac-er]

Is there any setting I can change so that when I click the red 'X' that app closes completely rather than partially close?

It's really annoying when I think I closed half a dozen apps only to find out they are still running and pulling resources.

No setting in OS X. Just the way Macs have always been.

 

[Makosuke]

This is an intentional (and logical) choice in the design of the MacOS, and there is not control over it. Just get used to hitting command-Q (or using the App's menu) when you're done with an app. Alternately, you can always scan for black triangles in the Dock and right (or control) click on each app then select "Quit" from the pop-up menu.

There are, of course, some single-window apps that auto-quit when you close their last window (iPhoto or Address Book, for example) but this headless sytem allows you to close all open windows while still leaving the application primed and open if you want--for example, I don't quit my web browser so I have basically instant access when I want, even if no windows are open. Same goes for Photoshop and Word. It's also nice to know for certain whether an app is actually open or not.

I assume you're used to Windows, which generally gets around this issue by having "super windows" for the app that contain document windows. This lets you close all your documents without closing the app, but also generally has the app take over the whole screen to do it.

 

[DeSnousa]

You need to get used to closing apps in osx and then you realise its not annoying. There are numerous ways in which to do this. They have already been explained.

Try to get into the habit that you don't need to close your apps. For example i always have Safari and iTunes open and regularly keep open Quicktime, Adium, Word, Mail and etc. If the app is sitting idle it is not a resource hog

 

[prophet621]

Thanks for the replies. I opened (mac equivilent of Task Manager, can't remember name at the moment) and noticed that I had 4 apps I closed seemed to still be pulling just over 100 megs of memory between them. Not a big issue at the moment but I couldn't help but think that with enough of them it will make a difference.

I'll adjust over time but it may take a while. For the time being, this is one of the things that just bugs me. There are countless things about Windows that I don't like but learned to live with and there are things I do like about Windows, guess my mac experience is running along those same lines. To be expected though, no OS is perfect.

 

[Heb1228]

Thanks for the replies. I opened (mac equivilent of Task Manager, can't remember name at the moment) and noticed that I had 4 apps I closed seemed to still be pulling just over 100 megs of memory between them. Not a big issue at the moment but I couldn't help but think that with enough of them it will make a difference.

I'll adjust over time but it may take a while. For the time being, this is one of the things that just bugs me. There are countless things about Windows that I don't like but learned to live with and there are things I do like about Windows, guess my mac experience is running along those same lines. To be expected though, no OS is perfect.

OS X will move data to a paging file if it needs the physical memory. You're still thinking like a windows user. Listen to these guys that have been using OS X for a long time when they tell you that Quitting apps is (in many cases) pointless. Leaving a bunch of apps open will not affect your performance unless you just flat out need more memory.

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

OS X uses memory very efficiently. No memory goes unused, so while you're seeing that your closed (but not quit) apps are taking up 100mB of memory, it's because none of the apps that you are using needs that memory. As soon as the apps you are using need the memory, OS X will take it away from the closed apps. Why have 2GB of RAM if most of it sits idle all the time? This efficiency is often misunderstood, but it really is the way to go!

 

[Bote]

Hey everyone, thanks so much for answering this members question. I come from a windows background and this has been bugging me also. I have suffered in silence for months now. I love this apple-tab, apple-Q......

I am just closing apps for the fun of it