"Click Through Focus"

This one is best explained by example. In Windows, let's say I have two applications open, side-by-side: Notepad and Firefox. Currently, I'm typing in Notepad so the Notepad window has "focus." Suddenly I decide to refresh the Firefox page that is currently displayed so I move the mouse away from Notepad and onto the Firefox window, click the refresh button, and the page reloads.

Now, let's analyze how this works in OS X. When I leave Notepad (TextEdit in this case) and click on the refresh button in Firefox, the page doesn't refresh. What really happens is the Firefox window was given focus, so I have to click again to get the page to refresh. Now, to be fair, this isn't really a Mac problem at all, because if I do the same thing in Safari things work the same as in Windows. But wait? They don't, because if I try to click a link in Safari I have the same problem.

The problem lies with however Firefox and Safari (and any other applications in OS X) were implemented. Unlike Windows, it appears that it's up to the software developers to decide what happens, whether or not the user can "click through focus" or just "click to focus." That sucks, I prefer the Windows way where all Windows use click through focus.

Can anyone shed more light on this? Apple, please provide me with a "click through focus" option in the next version of your OS.

And please don't tell me to just use "alt-tab," as that's missing the point.