3 ms·

The mouse distance issue doesn't really bother me. Something well over 90% of the time, I switch tabs using keyboard shortcuts (actually, most of what I do in

by rflrob 16y ago

The mouse distance issue doesn't really bother me. Something well over 90% of the time, I switch tabs using keyboard shortcuts (actually, most of what I do in the browser is now keyboard based, thanks to Vimperator http://code.google.com/p/vimperator-labs/ http://code.google.com/p/vimperator-labs/ ). One thing I'm curious about for the mac is whether full titles on the very top will still be displayed if the tabs are on top. In Chrome, if I go to a page that has a long title (including this comment page), I have to hover over the tab to get the full title. Otherwise, it just shows up as "Hacker News | Why Tabs a...".

mbrubeck 16y ago
Mouse targeting / Fitt's law is even improved with tabs-on-top in certain situations. Run Chrome or Firefox 4 maximized on Windows (or in a tiling window manager like XMonad on X11, with no border) and you can just run the mouse along the top of the screen to reach your tabs. They have "infinite" vertical target size, just like the Mac menubar.
- msmith 16y ago
  In the mockups shown, the tab doesn't extend fully to the edge of the window, which unfortunately means you don't get the "infinite pixels" advantage. The same is true for Chrome on OSX and Windows.
  - mbrubeck 16y ago
    When you maximize Chrome on Windows, the tabs extend to the top of the screen. The plan is to do the same for Firefox 4.
nooneelse 16y ago
I'm similarly curious about where the bookmark toolbar is going to end up. Chrome puts it inside the tab, which kinda breaks the idea of conceptual encapsulation if one uses it to open new tabs as much as to control the current one. I dislike Chome's placement so much I barely even use bookmarks there, whereas in Firefox the bookmark toolbar is my most used bookmark interface with a dozen nameless favicons for the most used sites and just as many folders to organize the rest. It long ago pushed the menu bar off the screen entirely, taking its place above the navigation bar.

by rflrob 16y ago

mbrubeck 16y ago

Mouse targeting / Fitt's law is even improved with tabs-on-top in certain situations. Run Chrome or Firefox 4 maximized on Windows (or in a tiling window manager like XMonad on X11, with no border) and you can just run the mouse along the top of the screen to reach your tabs. They have "infinite" vertical target size, just like the Mac menubar.

msmith 16y ago
In the mockups shown, the tab doesn't extend fully to the edge of the window, which unfortunately means you don't get the "infinite pixels" advantage. The same is true for Chrome on OSX and Windows.
- mbrubeck 16y ago
  When you maximize Chrome on Windows, the tabs extend to the top of the screen. The plan is to do the same for Firefox 4.

nooneelse 16y ago

I'm similarly curious about where the bookmark toolbar is going to end up. Chrome puts it inside the tab, which kinda breaks the idea of conceptual encapsulation if one uses it to open new tabs as much as to control the current one. I dislike Chome's placement so much I barely even use bookmarks there, whereas in Firefox the bookmark toolbar is my most used bookmark interface with a dozen nameless favicons for the most used sites and just as many folders to organize the rest. It long ago pushed the menu bar off the screen entirely, taking its place above the navigation bar.