HOW TO CLOSE A FINDER WINDOW IN THE DOCK

If you've minimized a Finder window to the Dock, you can actually close that window without having to maximize it first (saving untold time and keystrokes). Just click-and-hold on the minimized Finder window in the Dock, and choose Close from the pop-up menu. That's itit's closed, just as if you had maximized it and clicked on the red Close button.