Mac newbie needs some explaining :)

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Hi folks, I've just bought myself a white 2Ghz MacBook (mmm, shiny) and so far absolutely love it! Incidentally, before I go on to my Q's, the reason I bought a Mac instead of my much more familiar Wintel lappy is a direct result of being able to install the slightly dodgy versions of OS X on my desktop computer. Just proves that in some cases, the evils of piracy can result in a sale. (or maybe Apple should just launch OS X as a stand-alone OS)

Anyway, not advocating piracy so on with my questions. Google hasn't been able to answer these and as a lifetime Windows user, I'm confused by a couple of things;

When I close an application with the little red x, it doesn't actually close it, does it? The app appears to continue running. Is this configurable? It's a bit of a pain having to Command-Q every time I close an app.

What the heck is the key next to the right hand Command key for? The symbol is like a ^ with a _ above it? It appears to be another return key, but what's the point.

Thanks in advance for any info.

I think I may just be smitten by OS X/Macs! As a Windows network consultant, that aint' good!! ;)
 
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zygote said:
When I close an application with the little red x, it doesn't actually close it, does it? The app appears to continue running. Is this configurable? It's a bit of a pain having to Command-Q every time I close an app.

What the heck is the key next to the right hand Command key for? The symbol is like a ^ with a _ above it? It appears to be another return key, but what's the point.
The red x only closes the window, not the app. To close the app, you can: hit command + q, File > Quit, or right(ctrl)-click on the dock icon and select quit.

for the symbols: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=85065&postcount=2

for future questions try here: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/search.php?
 
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michaelstumpf said:

Hmm, tried your useful link to search for "close window button" and it didn't return anything relevant soooo.......

OBVIOUSLY, I search first and then ask, I'm only a Mac newbie, not a forum newbie, so maybe I'll reject your advice and continue to post when searching doesn't return anything useful. :rolleyes:
 
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Yeah, reckon so. I seem to find all sorts of new ways of manipulating things in the OS the more I read on t'internet. :)
 
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Believe it or not the x is not suppose to close the application, but was a mistake in the code of windows that caused the whole program to close when the window was closed. Windows played it off as a feature and left it that way ever since. Historically true, not my opinion
 
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I love the whole not quiting thing.

I remeber my old RISC OS machine when ever you clicked the X on that too it never closed the program either.

Even my PDA doesnt quit apps when I tap the X and thats WM2005! Odd that MS never fixed it or even gave a choice for the action to be taken.
 
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Useful if you accidentally click it, so that you don't lose all your work.
 
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PowerBookG4 said:
Believe it or not the x is not suppose to close the application, but was a mistake in the code of windows that caused the whole program to close when the window was closed. Windows played it off as a feature and left it that way ever since. Historically true, not my opinion

Do you have a link to an article that says that? I have also heard other things such as the 3 button mouse was an error on Windows' part. I heard something like they were supposed to have one button but were forced to use 3 due to bad design or something. I think I heard this from an unreliable source so I was wondering if anyone else heard this.
 
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I have an intellimouse explorer mouse, and I've assigned the scroll wheel click button to close the application, works quite nicely.
 

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