With sway (Wayland port of i3) you can set "workspace_layout tabbed" to have the default container be tabbed, and also top level splits that are created by movi

With sway (Wayland port of i3) you can set "workspace_layout tabbed" to have the default container be tabbed, and also top level splits that are created by moving a window out of a tabbed container be tabbed. I think i3 works like this too, but I don't remember well. The i3 model requires building a strong intuition for how to solve broken layouts, and it can be frustrating until you know how. But once you figure it out it's automatic. It's not for everyone, but a lot of people end up liking it a lot.