Windows XP Conventions

[srd]

As a recent refugee from Mac OS 9 to Windows XP, I'm trying to find the
consistencies that comprise the XP interface. My two questions:

1. Is the red close box supposed to close its window, exit the program,
or exit the program only if all windows are closed? Each program seems to
have its own conventions. Do you really have to carry around in personal
memory how each program chooses to handle these standard devices?

2. Along similary lines, is the "minimize" command--as from the top left
window--supposed to minimize to the task bar or to the system tray?

Countless times I've clicked to close a window to find that I have unloaded
the program.

srdiamond

 

[Tom Porterfield]

As a recent refugee from Mac OS 9 to Windows XP, I'm trying to find
the consistencies that comprise the XP interface. My two questions:

1. Is the red close box supposed to close its window, exit the
program, or exit the program only if all windows are closed? Each
program seems to have its own conventions. Do you really have to
carry around in personal memory how each program chooses to handle
these standard devices?

Typically these exits the program... but ... and you knew it was coming.
The Windows API allows for a program to override the functionality, so it
can and does vary from program to program. Makes the OS flexible,
unfortunately also leads to inconsistency in behavior. Some programs
(AIM, MSN Messenger, RssReader) minimize when you click the red x.

2. Along similary lines, is the "minimize" command--as from the
top left window--supposed to minimize to the task bar or to the
system tray?

The default is to minimize to the taskbar, but again a program can
override the handler for the action and implement its own behavior. As
you've seen, a common change is to minimize to the tray rather than the
taskbar. There are even utilities available for download that will force
all programs to minimize to a tray icon. As I don't use any of these I
can't recommend one.
--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP MCE
http://support.telop.org

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.

 

[Clint Grafton [MCSE A+]]

As a recent refugee from Mac OS 9 to Windows XP, I'm trying to find the
consistencies that comprise the XP interface. My two questions:

1. Is the red close box supposed to close its window, exit the program,
or exit the program only if all windows are closed? Each program seems to
have its own conventions. Do you really have to carry around in personal
memory how each program chooses to handle these standard devices?

2. Along similary lines, is the "minimize" command--as from the top left
window--supposed to minimize to the task bar or to the system tray?

Countless times I've clicked to close a window to find that I have unloaded
the program.

srdiamond

Closing the application's main window exits the application. Minimizing places
the application in the background with a button to restore or close it on the
taskbar and not in the system tray. The tray is reserved for the icons of tasks
or applications that do not need to run interactively with the user.