• Shut Down is a small, compact utility used to shut down a running Macintosh. Written by Apple Computer, It was provided with System 7.5 and later versions. It is deprecated in both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X.
Its purpose was user convenience. It allowed the user to shut down their Macintosh without switching back to the Finder.
The bullet (•) is present in its name, so as to make it the last item in the Apple menu.
In System 7.5 only (but not in later versions, beginning with Mac OS 7.5.1, using this utility to shut down would result in items in the Shutdown Items folder not running upon shutdown.
Classic • Shut Down pranks[]
A classic prank involving • Shut Down was putting it in the Startup Items folder. In this way, unless the shift key was held either at startup or just after the Finder loaded, the Mac would shut down immediately.
Yet another prank involved replacing the icon of • Shut Down to resemble a folder or a hard drive, and renaming it accordingly. Whenever a user tried to "open" the folder or the hard drive, the Mac would switch off by itself.