Favorite Mac Hacks: Quit the Finder

Sometimes I completely strip down a Mac (to run as a headless server or for recording sessions). So I turn off EVERYthing that isn't needed. The Finder is really just an application that runs much like any other app. But it doesn't have a "quit" menu item... 'til now:

Open a Terminal window and enter this:

defaults write com.apple.Finder QuitMenuItem 1

Then relaunch the finder (restart, log out or use the Apple-->"Force Quit" screen). You'll then see a new item in the "Finder" menu: "Quit Finder / Command-Q".

If you ever want to get rid of it, use the same Terminal command, but end it with "0".