Comment 97 for bug 733349

@The Fiddler
FYI you are misunderstanding me. It never was about this functionality breaking app-centric paradigms. It really only has been about definitions, differentiations and terminology, both in the bug discussion and in eventually user facing dialogs and options.

I find it pretty ironic to hear that sort of wording directed against me but I hope we can continue discussing what actually matters and leave the non-essential parts of the discussion behind. I admit I should have opened that other bug sooner instead of cluttering this bug with a lot of back and forth arguing which essentially wasn't nearly important enough to get agitated about. What you won't hear from me is that I've not been paying attention, that I'm misunderstanding the issues or that my terms were incorrect.

Back to the real topic:
"all windows belonging to an application" is the same as "the application" from a Linux user's perspective. Both would work for them. That doesn't mean the chosen terminology doesn't matter to the user at all. I already delivered the counterargument (in fact "argument" because there -still- is nothing to counter) but I'll repeat it in case it got lost somehow:
"All windows of an application" is not the same for:
- OS X users (the only app-centric desktop interface that already had "users" to speak of)
- people confused by "all windows of an application" vs. "all windows on the desktop"
- Interface designers using accurate terminology (those aren't "users" but bug reports aren't really intended for users either)

As for minimize vs hide:
One minimizes a window *to* a taskbar button (usually depicted graphically by a "_" or "v" like sign), while the other "hides" a window completely, it's gone from the desktop. It's not just a question of terminology (which *is* important when we are discussing interface design). The difference has important consequences for the user. Hidden windows behave very differently in a mental model, a user has to be somehow reminded that they are still open, he needs to know beforehand how to get the window "back" (animations can only be hints that which don't really change that). Minimized windows are simple, on a busy desktop they behave just like open windows behind other windows.

By using the same terms in user facing elements for very different things it's not only inaccurate to looking dilettantish, we pretend nothing has changed, one could even say betray users or at least break user expectations. This obviously would be bad design.