Apple’s Safari web browser has re-ignited the whole Tabbed Browsing Considered Harmful debate.
I like tabbed browsing because I tend to have a large number of windows open at any given time (current: 2 browser windows with 13 tabs between them, 10 other windows across 8 applications). Without the tabbed browser, Alt-Tab would be completely unusable and the Taskbar would only be usable with grouping enabled.
It’s easy to say that it’s not the application’s problem, the window manager is flawed. The problem with that logic is that no window manager gets it right. Most work at the window level, a few operate at the application level, but I’m not aware of any that allow the user to navigate a single application’s windows using the keyboard.
Tabbed browsing is one solution to that problem. Don’t trash the idea because Mozilla’s UI implementation sucks, fix the damned UI. When tabbed browsing is enabled, all window-centric menu commands should become tab-centric. Simple as that.
Alternative to tabs: if tabbed browsing is disabled, use the previous / next tab shortcuts to navigate across browser windows. Addresses the window manager problem without creating additional UI burden.
