[X-Newbies] file types and opening files in X

[david_elmo]

In less than X, it was pretty simple: one would set the file type and  
creator and the file would open in whatever was set. One could batch  
change sets with a facility like Typeshuffler. It all worked pretty  
good. I am a bit lost in X re this whole thing... I think there may  
be some software bug in this regard in X considering the crazy things  
that happen on my QS with Tiger?

I know that one can "open with" from context menus and get info and  
that is all very well. But I want permenancy. When I open an  
illustrator file I want it to open in classic in my Illustrator 8 and  
also all such files. If I change one file (that is inexplicably set  
to textEdit?) the "open with" in the get info, the icon changes to  
the Illustrator one. If I leave things at this stage, things are fine  
for this file. But if I go on to "change all" in order to "Use this  
app to open all docs like this." (sounds pretty slack to me this), I  
get a notice that asks if I am sure I want to change all my Adobe  
Ill.. 8 docs to open with the app Adobe Ill 8..." Well of course I  
do! So I say yes and press continue. Result: it reverts back to  
TextEdit!!!

So you can see I am not a little puzzled by all this...

David elmo