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Comment by moogleii | Hacker News Reader

Unlike Windows, there's a separation of concepts between "application" and "windows" on Mac. Closing all the windows of an app doesn't imply closing the app. I actually think the Windows way is sloppy (and I came from Windows). I want that kind of granular control. So many times back in the day, I'd accidentally close all my Internet Explorer windows, and have to pay the time-cost of reopening the app from scratch. It's less annoying now with SSDs, but reopening an app is still more expensive than opening a new window for an already running process.

If I want the app closed, cmd+q / alt+f4. Repeated cmd+w / ctrl+w shouldn't also close the app (IMO).

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On the contrary, leaving so many apps open can make my machine feel like it's "dragging" when I really push it, mostly because I have software open that I'm not using. Especially on Macs, where memory comes at an extreme premium, I find myself frequently frustrated by the number of applications I have open. This also happens on Windows with tray-minimized apps, but to a much lesser extent.

In either case, I find both implementations sloppy. Apple's solution is complete but redundant, and Windows' solution is simple but lacking. I have to give it to KDE and GNOME, both desktops manage to 'fix' this problem by encouraging people to minimize apps they aren't using. Your (X) icon still has the magic power to kill processes, and you get to keep your precious applications when you're done using them. Boom, no need for ultra-complex Application/Window/Form/Dialog hierarchy for the user to wrap their mind around. Simple solution to a simple problem.

I've seen this on Linux too, specifically with this VPN application https://github.com/yuezk/GlobalProtect-openconnect

Closing it via the "x" will minimize to tray and hide (which is the behavior I want, but an example nonetheless)

Windows has a similar distinction between applications that have one window per open document (SDI for Single Document Interface) and applications that have one window with tiny windows inside for each document (MDI for multiple document interference).

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