hi everyone
i am fairly new to linux and i am still getting comfortable with it
so far i enjoyed linux mint the best and and running it quite well
but there is something i am looking for
on a computer running mac os x, when u click x, the window closes but the program itself doesnt shut down
there is a separate function "quit" to shut the program down
this made it so everything was quick to open up and programs were quicker to open
what distribution can help me have this kind of task manager?
so far i ahve tried ubuntu, mint, mint kde, mandriva and opensuse
is there a way to do this that i am not aware of?
or can anyone share some insight on this topic?
any help is much appreciated

What you want is nothing at all to do with the distribution. It's relevant to the Desktop Environment that it is running, which is changeable according to your pereferences. Mainly it's Gnome or KDE, but aren't you just talking about a minimize button??? If not, then afaik there is no such thing.

As acid_kewpie has already mentioned, at least the 3 most popular desktop environments (Gnome, KDE and Xfce) support minimizing application windows. Should you find it that this is not ideal because you can still "see them" in your panel's window list, you could move them to a separate workspace (keyboard shortcuts can help streamline the activities: sending windows to a different workspace and switching between workspaces).

Not only do the major desktop environments support minimizing application windows, so do many, if not most, window managers. I'm quite certain that the window manager you're using with Linux Mint supports minimizing windows.

The only WM that doesn't support minimizing I know if is the new Gnome Shell.

Here are some Docks you can use with the Gnome Desktop Environment:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-power...linux-machine/

If you have a reasonably fast/modern PC that can handle a bit of 3D, and you have the appropriate 3D drivers installed (if you're using Nvidia or ATI hardware), then the Avant Window Navigator looks like the best. If your computer is slower (and 3D animations are a problem), then I recommend WBar. It's been a long time since I've tried a Dock on Linux, so I can't really attest to any one in particular, other than from what I've read about them. Most of these are probably available in Synaptic Package Manager; just search for them in there. If they're not available in Synaptic, then you can do a Google search for something like "avant window navigator PPA" or "cairo dock PPA". Ubuntu Tweak (which you can find a PPA for using a Google search) may be helpful for this.

You'll probably still need to use the Minimize button on the window to make it stick in the dock without closing, but the effect should be very similar to what you'd see on OS X.

I hope that helps.

--Dane

P.S. Incidentally, I understand that the new Gnome Shell does support Minimize, but you have to use Ubuntu Tweak or else edit a config file manually to get the button to appear. (Why they would remove it I have no idea...)

P.P.S As far as distros go for this, I recommend either Ubuntu or one of its immediate, close derivatives, like Mint, since there are tons of third-party PPAs that work with them in case you can't get the software from the built-in repositories. Also, when looking in Synaptic, be sure that you've enabled the "Universe" and "Multiverse" repositories, as a lot of great software isn't available in "Main" and "Restricted", which are the only ones enabled by default.