using Inkscape 0.48.3.1 r9886 under Ubuntu Precise 10.04.2, File CLOSE and file QUIT options have the same action, closing the program completely. On most other apps, file > CLOSE returns program to startup condition.

[Denny Hugg]

using Inkscape 0.48.3.1 r9886 in Precise 12.04.2, File CLOSE and file QUIT options have the same action, closing the program completely.

[su_v (suv-lp)]

> File CLOSE and file QUIT options have the same action

This is actually not quite true - it depends on whether there are multiple documents opened from within the same Inkscape process or not:
- if multiple document windows are open, 'File > Quit' quits the application (and closes all document windows), whereas 'File > Close' only closes the current document window.
- If the window just closed was the last one, current stable Inkscape versions also quit (document-centric application))

Linking as duplicate to
- Bug #170550 (sf1106380) “open blank document on 'close'”
  <https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/170550>

(Note: based on popular demand the behavior has already changed in trunk, and the next major release (0.49) will open a new document if the last window is closed, and only really quit if the command 'File > Quit' is used).