[Johnnyboysmac]

Hello All

Well I've just celebrated my first Mac's first birthday and it's been a year of learning, plus some unlearning of windows ways being of course a 'switcher'

But all in all, I feel I have a pretty good handle on the OS, with some way to go with the finer/more obscure points perhaps, and of course some of the apps which I only use on an adhoc, as needed approach.

One of the things I like about the mac experience is being able to leave one's apps running, but hidden, ready for quick opening/switching.

It took a while to get used to it, but I also really appreciate sleeping the machine, and having it wake right up ready for action in a second or so, instead of the daily hassle of rebooting/restarting etc.

Because I'm on dialup, I've kind of by default gotten into the habit of disconnecting all my internet connections (IM messenger clients etc) then my ISP, finally closing off all my apps (hidden or running) and then sleeping the machine.

I know it sounds silly, but it struck me the other day as to whether I really need to close everything down re apps before putting the mac to sleep. Sure, I would need to log out of aim etc, and disconnect from my ISP, but do I need to exit running or hidden apps like mail, safari, iCal, address book etc BEFORE I sleep the machine?

Bear in mind that if I put my Windoze box into hibernation, with open apps, it would be reluctant to come out of hibernation, and usually the apps would all play up, so one would end up rebooting anyway which kinda defeated the purpose.

So if I put the mac to sleep with some apps open, and others hidden, is their some way this would 'corrupt' them? i.e could i cause problems for myself if I start to do this?

Heh, just thought I would ask for some more experienced feedback first...

Thanks a lot

Cheers

John....

[Ric_D]

In my experience, you should not have any problems leaving apps open and sleeping your Mac -- I do it all the time with my flat-panel iMac and dual-USB iBook.

[SupahCoolX]

It's just fine to put it to sleep with stuff running. Just remember that sleep will disconnect any internet/networking connections which may disrupt what some apps are doing. None of this should cause any real damage, though, and most connections are restored automatically upon waking. Also, I wouldn't recommend sleeping while installing system software updates, using something like DiskWarrior to test a hard drive, etc. Otherwise, don't worry about it. You shouldn't even have to log out of different apps. Just go to sleep and everything will be taken care of.
Sleep basically shuts down your Mac, but leaves enough power to preserve the contents of RAM. This way, you can quickly wake up the computer and it will appear exactly as you left it without having to fully reboot and reload the OS, etc. The whole point of sleep is that you don't have to close and relaunch all your apps.

[Johnnyboysmac]

Hi There

Thanks guys for writing in and clearing that up for me - I'm stoked!

Heh, it's only a little point, but even after a year of being a switcher, I really love my Mac and would hate to hurt it (besides giving ME a headache!)

Heh, I think as much as it is taking some time still to get to grips with the finer points of the Mac re both the OS and the apps, I am constantly having to confront/unlearn a lot of 'bad'/negative/unecessary computing habits accquired from my Windows days.

I catch myself at times running 'fsck' or permissions checks, rebooting etc rather more than is really necessary - a leftover from my windows days, of constantly checking things, rebooting etc and running maintainence tasks.

In the year I've had my Mac, I've only had two headaches - both of my own making re operator error, and relatively easily put to right. With my Windoze box, I could've fixed it, but no where near as easily or effectively. Particularly as regards the time involved.

So I'm one very happy mac camper as they say.

I'm surprised I didn't think of it earlier, but I just assumed if I put the Mac to sleep with apps open/running or 'hidden' that there would be trouble. For a while there I even used to log out before sleeping the machine.

It never ceases to amaze me how even a year later I find myself waking up to unecessary computing habits learned from the Windows world which are simply not a concern with the Mac.

It's a minor point, but I do find the repetativeness of closing off all hidden/running apps etc everyday before sleeping the machine, and then having to repeat the process upon waking up to have become a bit tedious, so this little point is great news from a convenience/ease of use point of view, and another nail in my personal windows coffin.

Thanks again guys for writing in

Best Regards

John....

[Link]

You don't even have to disconnect from your ISP as the computer will do that itself when you tell it to sleep. Just be sure you're not installing something, and that you've saved your stuff before you sleep it.

Saving is a good idea, not necessary. Quitting apps is definately not required at all

[Brass]

Yeah, the whole idea is that you shouldn't really have to think about it. Most of the time you should be able to sleep/wake it without any extra steps required.

I use a laptop and so sleep/wake it a lot. All I ever do is close the lid (which automatically puts it to sleep), and then re-open the lid later (which automatically wakes it up). I never close any network settings, quit applications, etc. Everything just works. I never have to think about it.

[nforcer]

Apple has fixed a "sleep issue" with almost every update OS X has had. I don't trust it.

[SupahCoolX]

Just a note: If you do find yourself doing some necessary, repetitive tasks over and over, just wait until you discover AppleScript!
http://www.apple.com/applescript/