I remember Microsoft’s first response to tabbed browsing. When they first got wind of it they were already busy running in the complete opposite direction. They had recently shipped Windows XP, which would collapse similar windows into the same item on the task bar, and they were convinced that this new organization was going to obsolete the need to keep the total number of windows in your workspace to a minimum. Instead of a new Word document, for example, opening in the same window, as had previously been the case, Office 2003 now always spawned new windows. Despite Microsoft’s best efforts, however, it was still a pain to have many windows open at the same time, and people like myself reveled in Firefox and Opera’s tabbed browsing.

Right about the time the whole world decided that tabbed browsing was the way to go, Apple came out with their browser and geeks jumped all over them to implement tabbed browsing. They eventually did it, and now, when IE 7 comes out, there will no longer be a mainstream browser that doesn’t support tabs. But Microsoft’s original point is still valid. Using tabs in a browser is really just making a new window and cramming it inside the current window. It’s needlessly complex and replicates functionality. It’s also difficult for users to understand and get used to. I tried to get my girlfriend to use tabs in Firefox a while ago and she still often closes the entire window rather then just the tab she’s currently looking at, loosing sessions she was not done using yet. So really, tabs are just a way to deal with an operating system that doesn’t let you manage the amount of windows that you need open at a time. Ah, but Safari doesn’t run on Windows, it runs on OS X. If you have 10 browser windows open in OS X, you still only have one icon in the dock and one options menu at the top of the screen. And seeing all of those windows at the same time is just a matter of hitting F10. If you want to see the content of all your tabs at the same time, the only option is to rebuild Exposè in the browser (which some are electing to do, by the way). But why? Apple already did it.

There is another benefit to tabbed browsing, however: it allows you to group related windows. Say you’re working on a research paper and also keeping up with the latest tech news. Some people may prefer to have two browsers open in this scenario, each with windows only related to a single task. While there is currently no way to replicate this without using tabs, the upcoming version of OS X will have virtual desktops (or “Spaces”) which will allow exactly this, but with any windows, not just web pages.

If you currently use a tabbed browser in OS X, try it for a while without. After all, people have been using Photoshop for years, long before even the benefits of Exposè, and it’s common to have tens of windows open in that application with nary a tab in sight. I stopped using tabbed browsing and find it much more intuitive and efficient. From now on I’m leaving window management where it belongs, in the window manager.