Newbie Question

Okay I just got a mac this past weekend for graduation YEAH!!! In the past I have just used PCs so I apologize if this is a really stupid question.

When I have an application open i.e. Aol Instant Messanger and I close my laptop shell AIM logs off and the application closes. Is there a way to keep the Mac from logging me off when I close it? I don't know what system it is OS X or something. I tried looking at my system preferences but I don't see anything about closing the shell and sleeping mode.

Thank you in advance,

When you close the lid you put the laptop into sleep mode which closes is basically shutting off the computer. you can download a program that allows you to keep the computer awake when you close the screen but you are running the risk of overheating the laptop and destroying it (PowerBooks and iBooks release heat through the keyboard)

If you want the applications to remain running, just keep the lid open and instead set the display to shut off after a few minutes (or manually turn the brightness all the way down with the keyboard). I would definitely not advise you to hack the notebook so that it will remain awake with the lid closed.

There is no SAFE way to change this. I would stick with it, I use to want to do the same thing then I realized it is nice to sign off once and a while.

Thanks for all the help, I kinda figured there was no way around it. I will take your advice and just have my screen shut off.