Is anyone else noticing that in Leopard you cannot always click on the desktop to return to the Finder - it simply stays in the same application. It is a very strange behaviour, which forces me to go to the dock to return to the Finder.
15" MacBookPro Core 2 duo/2.33GHz Intel,
Mac OS X (10.4.10),
3GB RAM
If we're talking about the same thing, then this is nothing new. The same thing happened in Tiger, and if I'm not mistaken, every other previous version of OS X. When I am in another application and also have a Finder window open behind that application, and I click on the desktop to return to Finder, the application's window is still on top, but I am in the Finder now. I have to go to the Dock to click on the Finder to get the Finder window back on top that was behind the other application. I would like to see the Finder return to the OS 9 days in this regard. Back then if i had an open application window and a Finder window behind it, and I clicked on the Desktop, I got the hidden Finder window to appear on top. It's almost like OS X treats Finder windows as a seperate application from the Desktop. Yet, clicking on the Desktop puts you in Finder. What am I missing here?
You're correct that with TIger the Finder windows never came to the front when you clicked on the desktop, but at least it went to the Finder. Now with Leopard I am finding that clicking on the desktop doesn't even get you into the Finder – you have to go to the dock...
In playing around I see that it does not behave this way all the time. However, I find with Acrobat 8 I sometimes get stuck in the application and am unable to get to the finder by clicking. I'll try to monitor it and see if I can see a pattern...
I've been seeing this as well, but also haven't pinned it down. When I just read this post and tried it, the program name in the upper-left wouldn't change to "Finder" when clicking on the desktop (At least in my Tiger install, this used to work). But, I could actually change a folder/file name on the desktop and it still says "Safari" in the menubar, so something is definitely odd.
I clicked on the dock icon to bring the Finder forward, went back to Safari and tried again. This time it worked as it should - clicking on the desktop brought up the Finder. I have no idea what triggers the bug, but definitely is there.
I confrim the odd and not reproducible behavior... Of course there are many ways to return to the finder, however clicking on the desktop is a very intuitive and perhaps the fastest one. Is this a bug?
PS The update to 10.5.1 did not resolve it by the way...
I've noticed the exact same behaviour: Clicking on the desktop not always gets me to the finder. For instance, i can select a file on my desktop, but i can't delete it with command-backspace, because i'm not really in the finder. There is no logical/practical explanation why this sometimes happens. With Proteron's MaxMenus i've assigned a function-key to the finder so i am getting there, but this behaviour goes back to Tiger.
I am having the same issue--I thought it was a third-party thing, or a space thing, but I've disabled a bunch of third-party apps (Pathfinder, Launchbar, Default Folder X) and Spaces--then rebooted--and right now, if I click on the desktop (while Safari is open), nothing happens. That is, safari stays 'in front.'
