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Force quit in OS X
The first thing you ask yourself is 'Why would I need to Force Quit anything is OS X?'

The answer is complicated but to put it bluntly, sometimes applications 'mis-behave' and have to be quit out of. Usually it is a result of a 'bug' in the application and simply upgrading to the latest version of the application, which is usually available from the manufacturers web-site, will correct the issue.

However, if you are experiencing the spinning cursor, or an application is not responding, please make sure to give it plenty of time - a couple of minutes. If it still does not respond, try the following...
1) On your keyboard, press Command-Option-Esc. All the keys must be pressed together, in that sequence.

2) This will open the the force quit window. Select the application that is mis-behaving, which will sometimes red.

3) Click the Force Quit button. After a moment the application will be removed from the list.

4) Close the window and restart the application.
If the above does not work and the Mac is acting strangley, try restarting. If it will not restart, hold in the power button for 8 seconds, will will shut it down completely. Release the button, wait a moment and then press the power button again, which will start the Mac.