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Computer resources are so cheap that the idea that, for most user applications, the openness of an application is a "state" should be obsolete. For apps that st

Computer resources are so cheap that the idea that, for most user applications, the openness of an application is a "state" should be obsolete. For apps that start up quickly and auto-save, why should the user care if they're open or not? The desktop is just playing catchup. The only loss is that you can't tab between applications without paying attention, but I suspect that many users don't do this anyway.

ori_b 15y ago
If they're going this route, then the user shouldn't be able to tell that an application has been closed behind their back. The application should just be restored when they try to switch back to it. If the openness of an application should be obsolete, then the user shouldn't be able to tell without explicitly poking through 'ps'
- dasil003 15y ago
  They actually did this, with hiding indicators on the dock by default, but then reverted it in the final GMs. It's definitely the direction they are going in, but it was probably deemed too radical a change for this release. Maybe in 10.8
sp332 15y ago
That's the idea, but when it interrupts the user's workflow, something went wrong in the execution. I care that the program that I am using is open! But Lion pretends to know which apps I am not using and closes them.
dfxm12 15y ago
A few things happen with an "open" program, like the ability to command-tab through them, appearing in the dock, expecting a window to be in a certain place, showing up in the "Force quit" dialog, etc. If the user expects to to find an app in the dock, and it's not there, then the user does care if the application is open. A feature like this doesn't matter as much on an iOS device because of the way applications are launched & managed. Applications are launched and managed differently on the desktop though...
tjogin 15y ago
Computer resources are only cheap if you don't care about energy preservation. I think Apple are trying to maximize battery life, as well as taking OS X to iOS levels of user friendliness.

ori_b 15y ago

If they're going this route, then the user shouldn't be able to tell that an application has been closed behind their back. The application should just be restored when they try to switch back to it. If the openness of an application should be obsolete, then the user shouldn't be able to tell without explicitly poking through 'ps'

dasil003 15y ago
They actually did this, with hiding indicators on the dock by default, but then reverted it in the final GMs. It's definitely the direction they are going in, but it was probably deemed too radical a change for this release. Maybe in 10.8

sp332 15y ago

That's the idea, but when it interrupts the user's workflow, something went wrong in the execution. I care that the program that I am using is open! But Lion pretends to know which apps I am not using and closes them.

dfxm12 15y ago

A few things happen with an "open" program, like the ability to command-tab through them, appearing in the dock, expecting a window to be in a certain place, showing up in the "Force quit" dialog, etc. If the user expects to to find an app in the dock, and it's not there, then the user does care if the application is open. A feature like this doesn't matter as much on an iOS device because of the way applications are launched & managed. Applications are launched and managed differently on the desktop though...

tjogin 15y ago

Computer resources are only cheap if you don't care about energy preservation. I think Apple are trying to maximize battery life, as well as taking OS X to iOS levels of user friendliness.