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Leaked Screenshot Shows a Cleaner, Simpler IE9

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Re: Leaked Screenshot Shows a Cleaner, Simpler IE9

#21

Post by bmelton »

andrew1 wrote: post #20
desigooner wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So far, I prefer the Chrome approach of a unified address+search bar to the Mozilla approach of 2 separate boxes. 1 keyboard shortcut to access either is far better than 2 .. if you type a search term in the firefox address bar as well, it'll search it for you ..

Maybe stating the obvious here, but you can just remove the search box from Firefox and they look pretty much the same.

Except that you then don't have a search box. That's the magic of Chrome, is that the address bar IS ALSO the search box.

Re: Leaked Screenshot Shows a Cleaner, Simpler IE9

#23

Post by bigsassy »

ghurlman wrote: post #18
seltzered wrote: post #10

I'm not a fan of mixing tabs on the same level as the url box. but I can imagine it was a design decision to allow for a bit more reading on widescreen monitors. I'm no fan to judge though, as I don't think I've actively used ie for nearly a decade now.

As you can imagine, your average IE-only user typically only has one tab open at a time - so there's no reason to provide an entire tab row for them. My hope would be that the "tab bar" would act like any toolbar that IE has today - easily dragged down to its own row. Heck, it might have been dragged UP by whomever took that screenshot.

I've always wondered about tab usage among the typical IE user. Do you have any hard numbers or studies that corroborate your statement? I ask not to put you on the spot, but figure it's possible you have this information or may even work in a usability lab that has actually studied this (this is Hacker News after all).

Re: Leaked Screenshot Shows a Cleaner, Simpler IE9

#24

Post by grogers »

seltzered wrote: post #10

I'm not a fan of mixing tabs on the same level as the url box. but I can imagine it was a design decision to allow for a bit more reading on widescreen monitors. I'm no fan to judge though, as I don't think I've actively used ie for nearly a decade now.

I think I might like this actually. Chrome was a good start to reducing the wasted vertical space in the browser compared to earlier versions of firefox. Combining the address bar and tabs into one line is the next logical option, it might work, it might not. Tough to know unless you've tried it for a while.

Re: Leaked Screenshot Shows a Cleaner, Simpler IE9

#25

Post by shrikant »

andrew1 wrote: post #15
PhilipM wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need an address box and a search box. You need tabs. real estate concerns mean thats 2 lines so far. you need a favorites line (or i do anyway) you need a title line and a status line. If the browser is missing any of these lines I will add it. The interface is exactly the same, internet hasnt changed browsing hasnt changed. What you need to do in a browser hasnt changed. Its nonsense.

I'm not saying you don't need a search box, but I use the address bar as my search box. That's even the default layout in Google Chrome isn't it?

Chrome is my primary browser, but every now and then what I really miss about the two separate bars in Firefox is this use-case:

1) Select and right-click word/phrase on page

2) Select a search engine from search bar list

3) Look it up instantly on whichever search engine has focus in the search bar.

In Chrome this wouldn't be possible without a form of overhead somewhere (add-on, user script, using keyboard, etc.)

Just to clarify, I'm not against using the keyboard shortcuts - just that when I'm reading a page with a hand on the mouse/trackpad, it annoys me a just a little bit to switch to the keyboard and back to the mouse again.

Re: Leaked Screenshot Shows a Cleaner, Simpler IE9

#26

Post by andrew1 »

bmelton wrote: post #21
andrew1 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe stating the obvious here, but you can just remove the search box from Firefox and they look pretty much the same.

Except that you then don't have a search box. That's the magic of Chrome, is that the address bar IS ALSO the search box.

You might have to mess around with the default behaviour but you can use the Firefox address bar as a search box. You can set it up so that typing 'g foo' searches for foo on Google, 'w bar' searches for bar on Wikipedia etc. It's actually more useful than the search box (in my opinion) as you can set up shortcuts so 'gm' will open google mail, 'lol' will open up the lolcats website. So there's really no need for a bookmarks bar either (as long as you can remember your shortcuts!).

Re: Leaked Screenshot Shows a Cleaner, Simpler IE9

#27

Post by henry81 »

I see some people saying "you NEED this" and "you NEED that". Maybe YOU do, but I don't. At least give me the option to remove it. Yes I'm a minimalist.

Personally my dream browser would have tabs and the URL box in the same row with no other icons or search boxes at ALL. Also get rid of the fat borders, maximize the real estate.

Just my 2 cents.

Re: Leaked Screenshot Shows a Cleaner, Simpler IE9

#28

Post by koenigdavidmj »

bigsassy wrote: post #23
ghurlman wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As you can imagine, your average IE-only user typically only has one tab open at a time - so there's no reason to provide an entire tab row for them. My hope would be that the "tab bar" would act like any toolbar that IE has today - easily dragged down to its own row. Heck, it might have been dragged UP by whomever took that screenshot.

I've always wondered about tab usage among the typical IE user. Do you have any hard numbers or studies that corroborate your statement? I ask not to put you on the spot, but figure it's possible you have this information or may even work in a usability lab that has actually studied this (this is Hacker News after all).

You would not use tabs either if it took three seconds to open a new one.

Re: Leaked Screenshot Shows a Cleaner, Simpler IE9

#29

Post by schultzor »

seltzered wrote: post #10

I'm not a fan of mixing tabs on the same level as the url box. but I can imagine it was a design decision to allow for a bit more reading on widescreen monitors. I'm no fan to judge though, as I don't think I've actively used ie for nearly a decade now.

I wonder if there's a clean way they could hide/collapse the URL field to a minimal width on the left side of the tab bar, then automatically expand it on mouseover or selection.

Agree that vertical size of the toolbar should be minimized, less scrolling helps everyone.

Re: Leaked Screenshot Shows a Cleaner, Simpler IE9

#30

Post by Groxx »

shrikant wrote: post #22
Groxx wrote: post #16

Why does Microsoft hate tabs?

The slab you see to the right of the address/search combo bar is a tab.

I know, it'd be an utter nightmare to use if you had more than 2 or 3 tabs. Compare to more tab-friendly browsers like Chrome / Firefox / Safari / Opera / anything with tabs.

Heck, they've reduced the amount of space for tabs from the previous version, where all you had taking up tab-space was your favorites buttons and a half-menu setup.

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