Tabbed browsing

Tabbed browsing ( English [ tæbd braʊzɪŋ ]) or register navigation is a form of a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) in which the individual documents within the common program window are addressed via a tab on the edge of the display area (switching between the window objects, closing etc. .). Tab navigation is best known as a feature of web browsers .

Details

Pages in the background can be selected using the tabs during tabbed browsing . A separate window is no longer opened for each opened website, but all pages are displayed in tabs.

In comparison to the freely positionable and individually resizable MDI windows, tabs are a limitation. The advantage, however, is that resources (such as RAM and screen space) are used more gently than opening new program windows .

Some web browsers (e.g. Opera ) combine MDI windows with tabs in that the tab bar remains fixed, but the individual web pages can also be displayed in smaller windows in the program. This combines the advantages of register navigation with the advantages of MDI programs.

The pages loaded in the tabs can, even if they are not currently visible, execute active content such as JavaScript . For this reason there was a security warning on several IT security websites in October 2004 .

Origin of the term

The term "tabbed browsing" comes from English. In the course of the further development of Internet Explorer, Microsoft introduced the German term “register navigation” with version 7 (see tab ).

The term "Tab" (plural: "Tabe" or "Tabs") is a Germanized English-language word for rider, a small part protruding from a sorted set of pages with directory lettering, e.g. B. the pages of different widths of a telephone book with indication of the first letter or attached tabs.

development

The first web browser with tabs appeared in 1994 and was called "InternetWorks". In 1998, NetCaptor followed as an alternative surface for the program core of Internet Explorer running underneath . Opera has mastered this function since 2000. Since 2006, practically every known browser has integrated support for tabbed browsing (Microsoft only started with IE7; Microsoft had previously made derogatory comments about tabbed browsing).

For older versions of Internet Explorer there are alternative interfaces such as Avant Browser , Maxthon or the Abolimba Multibrowser (from 2001), which use the same program library but support tabbed browsing.

Web browser with tabbed browsing

Individual evidence

^ Danger of espionage through tabbed browsing - a security warning from the Heise news ticker (from October 21, 2004)

[Heise-Sicherheitswarnung-1] Danger of espionage through tabbed browsing - a security warning from the Heise news ticker (from October 21, 2004)