Dear IE, I'm Leaving You For Good

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
Tabs should really be on the side to save screen space.

That makes no sense, and takes up way more space...

[Asher]

Originally posted by ixnay
Putting them on the side wastes a hell of a lot more space unless you cut them down to just the icons, which would be really stupid.

Err, that's how the OS X Dock works.

Of course it's stupid.

[Q Classic]

Kuci, the tab browser extension will allow you to place the tabs at the bottom of the window.

Tabs should really be on the side to save screen space.

Agathon, this is what I was talking about... you've been making phenomenally bizzare claims in this thread and in the Creative mp3 player thread which just... don't make any sense...

[Agathon]

It makes perfect sense.

Screens are wider than they are tall; pages tend to be taller than they are wide.

We don't have page-shaped screens. Hence, putting the tabs on the side frees up more vertical space. What's weird about that?

[Q Classic]

but you're using up more space, period--especially horizontally. in an era when most pages are geared towards people with resolutions at or above 1024x768, it's better for them to just have to scroll in one direction--down--than it is for them to scroll in two directions, down and right, because the tabs are on the side.

[Agathon]

I happen to like it like this.

If only Omniweb were free and a little faster.

[Agathon]

but you're using up more space, period--especially horizontally. in an era when most pages are geared towards people with resolutions at or above 1024x768, it's better for them to just have to scroll in one direction--down--than it is for them to scroll in two directions, down and right, because the tabs are on the side.

I guess it is different if you are used to windows taking up the whole screen. I'm not. I always have several things open at once.

Why would I have to scroll down and to the right?

[Q Classic]

I guess it is different if you are used to windows taking up the whole screen. I'm not. I always have several things open at once.

as do i, on 1280x1024 resolution, so it's not like i'm wanting for space as much.

but i do design web pages, and i do know that a good deal of people still browse at 1024x768 and 800x600, and in those cases, it's horizontal real estate that is slightly more valuable.

Why would I have to scroll down and to the right?

because when you have the tabs on the side, you reduce the amount of readable space you have for your pages. as in, everything gets pushed over. and if you don't have enough space to deal with that, and if the page uses fixed, rather than relative sizes, you'll have overflow. and that overflow can only be dealt with by adding in a horizontal scroll bar.

which, then, to read the whole page, you'd have to scroll both down AND right, rather than just down.

[Agathon]

I guess it is just a difference in taste.

I operate at 1024x768 and I prefer Omniweb's way of handling tabs. I prefer to have my browser take up the whole vertical space of the screen, but I never have it take up the whole screen.

[Q Classic]

I guess it is just a difference in taste.

compared to:

Tabs should really be on the side to save screen space.

Agathon, that's not a matter of taste you first claimed. If it you wanted to initially say it was, you would have said that you preferred Omniweb's tab management and how it displays them on the side, not saying that tabs should really be on the side to save screen space.

It really isn't taste at all, about horizontal scrolling being less convenient than vertical scrolling. On windows computers, you have a vertical scroll wheel only, usually. on a mac, you don't have a scroll wheel at all. it's easier to click and hold just one scroll bar than it is to shift back and forth between the two. it's easier to just have to press space/page dn/page up rather than having to use the arrow keys to read.

[Agathon]

Agathon, that's not a matter of taste you first claimed. If it you wanted to initially say it was, you would have said that you preferred Omniweb's tab management and how it displays them on the side, not saying that tabs should really be on the side to save screen space.

What is a matter of taste is whether you want browser windows to take up the whole screen.

I think it is easier to preserve vertical screen space over horizontal screen space, because pages are taller than they are wide.

I don't understand at all what you mean about horizontal scrolling. I never do it and I don't have to. Can you explain why this is necessary?

[Agathon]

because when you have the tabs on the side, you reduce the amount of readable space you have for your pages. as in, everything gets pushed over. and if you don't have enough space to deal with that, and if the page uses fixed, rather than relative sizes, you'll have overflow. and that overflow can only be dealt with by adding in a horizontal scroll bar.

I see what you mean. But it doesn't happen. See my pic.

[Agathon]

One excellent feature that Firefox has is that it can make sure that all images fit into your window, which eliminates the need for horizontal scrolling. (Huge images seem to be the only occasion where I need to scroll from side to side and that isn't very often at all).

[Q Classic]

I see what you mean. But it doesn't happen. See my pic.

you do know that with computing, the term "your mileage will vary" is a truism, don't you?

just because it doesn't happen to you doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

i've seen it on multiple platforms across multiple browsers at multiple resolutions. it can happen, it does happen, and it will happen. and this is without sidebar tabs for different web pages, too. there are pages where it displays fine until you have a sidebar.

One excellent feature that Firefox has is that it can make sure that all images fit into your window, which eliminates the need for horizontal scrolling. (Huge images seem to be the only occasion where I need to scroll from side to side and that isn't very often at all).

ie6 does this too. your point?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
I happen to like it like this.

If only Omniweb were free and a little faster.

That's a textbook example of a horrible, horrible website.

Not only does it not obey the HTML specifying cell width, it has an enormous waste of screen realestate on the right with the graphical images of tabs.

Holy ****, people need a PICTURE to remember which tab is which?

That uses up TONS of space, uses up a lot more resources, and is totally useless.

Classic crap interface.