Tabs

I think tabs are great on browsers because it allows me to open up many links from a single web page then continue looking at the current page while the tabs load.



I think we can thank Amazon for making Tabs popular. They become a favorite navigation feature for web sites and finally for web browsers.

Here is a screen shot of Amazon that I took April 16, 2001 back when they only had two tabs!


The problem I'm having is that I lose tabs!

I have to open up several web pages because if I open up everything in one window it's not only too cluttered, it's not organized. My work stuff will be mixed in with my play stuff.

I need one browser window just for my tabs for Metafilter alone. I typically open 20 to 50 tabs before I start looking at them. Then I have another problem. I'll hear a video start playing but I won't know which browser or tab it's coming from! Then the hunt begins. I just have to start clicking until I see some playing video. If the video is off-screen then I'm really in trouble.

Or in this case, I had so many tabs open I couldn't even access the tab that was playing the video because the tabs do not scroll.



Before tabs I would have to open up each page in a new window and this meant my task bar had to be 3 or 4 levels thick!






But then Windows XP came out with a smarter taskbar which consolidated all programs of the same type under a single icon with a pop-up menu.



But sometimes I would have some many windows open my screen couldn't handle the size of the menu!




















I do like how some programs do not occupy any space in my taskbar. They are simply tiny icons in my tray like my instant messengers like my instant messengers for example.





I don't understand why I can't re-arrange my tabs or re-arrange the icons in my taskbar. I simply want to drag and drop so that are in an order that makes it easier for me. I've been asking for this feature in Windows since I started working at Microsoft.

I don't understand why I can't search my favorites. I put way too many links in my favorites then I can't find stuff. I just a Favorites Search. Is that too much to ask? Why don't browsers have this feature? Am I the only person who wants this?

When I worked at Microsoft they would have an annual company meeting at a football stadium. They would always show what future versions of Windows might look like. They have a research group that develops ideas that are 10 or 20 years out. Their goal is to make Windows easier to use.

Operating systems will continue to evolve and get easier to use. They still have a long way to go. We are still in the computer stone age.