unity-design team mailing list archive

[Frederik Nnaji <frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 01:10, Luke Morton <luke.morton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> In the process of writing this, I realised the problem I have with
> applications closing to the tray is that it makes the consequences of
> closing windows inconsistent.
>
> * Closing the only window for a non-tray application causes the
> application to quit.
> * Closing the only window for a tray application does not cause the
> application to quit.
> * Most applications are not tray applications so their non-quitting
> behaviour is inconsistent with the majority.
>
> Consider: if you've just opened an application that you've never used
> before, what would you expect to happen if you closed its window?
>

yes, finally someone!

So I think the thing that causes usability problems is actually
> inconsistent exiting behaviour.


Behaviour? This means client-side, not WM, correct?


> If applications never exited when their
> last window was closed, this wouldn't be a problem. (Incidentally, I
> think this is the approach Mac OS X takes.)
>

their close button is not red IIRC.


>
> > Hitting "close" on one web browser window doesn't terminate the
> > web-browser process, and the other windows associated with it.
>
> It does if its the only window.
>

wow, sometimes it will, sometimes it won't, it makes up for its totally
inconsistent behaviour with asking the user additional questions on exit..
We all know that's a trace of suboptimal design consistency.