Geek Chic – Smart Design for the Style Conscious

So you’re a Windows person right? And the way you are used to closing an application is by clicking that X in the top right hand corner, correct?

Well on a Mac it’s kind of different. The application itself is seperate from the windows, so you can have multiple windows open related to the application, close any one of them, and still have the application running in the background. Before the creation of “spaces” and even the utilization of window minizing, this was a nice way to close windows yet still have the benefit of the app running in the background. Take Mail for instance, You don’t necessarily need it up and in your face all the time, so by closing the window but keeping the app running, you still get to keep your mail coming in, but save the space. There are many more complicated benefits and uses for this technique which I won’t go into here, but you’ll get the hang of it once you tool around.

The best way to quit a Mac application is by using 1 of 2 different techniques.

1st Option – Using the Mouse

1. Go to the Menu Bar at the top of the screen
2. Select the Application Name in Bold ie: Mail or Firefox
3. Scroll down the menu to Quit “Application Name” at the very bottom, ie: Quit Mail
4. Apple does the rest.
5. If you have any open documents, web pages, or emails, Most applications will ask you if you wish to save the document for later use.

2nd Option – Keyboard Shortcut

1. Hit this keyboard combination Apple Key ( ⌘) + Q
2. Apple does the rest.
3. If you have any open documents, web pages, or emails, Most applications will ask you if you wish to save the document for later use.

Now… for those of you wonder why your beautiful Mac is running slow, I have a nifty trick you can add to the toolbox. Maybe it’s because you’ve got all those applications running in the background?

Check out my next article on creating an iCal Alarm to close those pesky brain drainers here.