Tag: Tabbed Browsing

IE7's synchronous XmlHttpRequest locks up all browser tabs during long requests, not just the active tab. Is this behavior expected or a bug? If you've encountered this problem, please email me so I can investigate further.

After using IE7 Beta 1, I've found tabbed browsing, while a welcome addition, has a few quirks. Modal dialog boxes lock the entire browser, not just the tab, which is disruptive. Tabs don't have tooltips, making it hard to distinguish between similar pages. Closing tabs requires going to the far right of the screen or right-clicking, neither of which is ideal. And finally, new tabs don't open to the homepage, which would be a useful option.

I've been trying out IE7 Beta 1 and have some mixed feelings. While I like the tabbed browsing and the new tab placement, I'm not sure it's the ideal UI. It makes it difficult to compare sites side-by-side and to see open pages in the taskbar like I could with separate windows. A hybrid approach, like Office's per-document window or better taskbar tooltips, might be a good compromise. Also, my ATOM feed isn't being auto-discovered, and I'd like to know how IE7 handles feed discovery in general. I'm looking forward to the improved CSS support in Beta 2, although some rendering bugs are already fixed in this build.