The user doesn't press save in #1 -- the user exits the app. If the user pressed save, they would be met with a save dialog, which is something completely diffe

The user doesn't press save in #1 -- the user exits the app. If the user pressed save, they would be met with a save dialog, which is something completely different. What the article discusses is a dialog the user didn't expect. Something pops up and they have to figure out what it is. Now you can make the user read the message, or you can make the window scannable by sticking actions on button labels. Reading the buttons is much faster than reading the sentence above. Sure, you're gonna save like 2 seconds of the user's time, but these 2 seconds are going to be multiplied by thousands in the course of the user using the app or OS. Little touches like this help make a good product.