Yanike's IE9 Tab/Address bar Concept

[yanike]

It would be cool if Microsoft did this for IE9 :D

I wanted to do something like this with a web browser, but didn't get around to doing it.

[jakem1]

Having the address bar in tabs really wouldn't work. It's too short in the video with one tab open and would be ridiculous with ten or more.

[.Neo]

Having the address bar in tabs really wouldn't work. It's too short in the video with one tab open and would be ridiculous with ten or more.

On mouse-over the first tab could side over the other tabs if space becomes an issue. Obviously the tab has to grow larger than seen in the video.

The way I see it the real issue would probably become the interfaces with hidden elements like itself that would become too dynamic, confusing the hell out of people.

[jakem1]

On mouse-over the first tab could side over the other tabs if space becomes an issue. Obviously the tab has to grow larger than seen in the video.

The way I see it the real issue would probably become the interfaces with hidden elements like itself that would become too dynamic, confusing the hell out of people.

Possibly but that would be a usability nightmare with lots of textbox flickering. I'm not really sure what the benefit if this approach would be. The vertical space savings don't really outweigh the nuisance IMO.

[sgrajan]

On mouse-over the first tab could side over the other tabs if space becomes an issue. Obviously the tab has to grow larger than seen in the video.

The way I see it the real issue would probably become the interfaces with hidden elements like itself that would become too dynamic, confusing the hell out of people.

It looks like a great idea for me. I agree with .Neo.

[yanike]

On mouse-over the first tab could side over the other tabs if space becomes an issue. Obviously the tab has to grow larger than seen in the video.

Exactly. It's just short in the video I made. The active tab should show normal size when hovered and then stretch when needed.

[XerXis]

naaaah, hiding the address would a huge security risk. Certainly after all the work the browser vendors have done lately (colored addresses for TSL and insecure sites, highlighting the domain). Going with your design would be a huge step back towards making people notice the domain they are on.

[yanike]

naaaah, hiding the address would a huge security risk. Certainly after all the work the browser vendors have done lately (colored addresses for TSL and insecure sites, highlighting the domain). Going with your design would be a huge step back towards making people notice the domain they are on.

nope. you can still have all that with this concept. all you have to do is hover the tab. the tabs can also change colors and show security risk icons for bad sites.

also, when a page is loading the tab will be showing the address bar until the page finishes loading. so, you will know what page you are on before the address bar goes away.

[XerXis]

nope. you can still have all that with this concept. all you have to do is hover the tab. the tabs can also change colors and show security risk icons for bad sites.

also, when a page is loading the tab will be showing the address bar until the page finishes loading. so, you will know what page you are on before the address bar goes away.

unless the page loads to fast or the user is distracted for a moment or ... still not a good idea :)

[DavidM]

Nope, seems too confusing and others have said it's dangerous to hide the address of the site you are visiting. Remember IE9 will be used by "generally" but NOT ALWAYS less technical people, hiding elements from them is silly and dangerous. You really want people to have mouse over the address bar, every time to check is the site they are using is secure for transactions? Or that they haven't been re-directed at the last minute?

Even on my laptop, my pages load way to fast to see the final url of my 5 homepages starting up.

What was the blue bar sliding across the top of the page? Progress bar?

You would be better off using the big blank space at the top for the address bar or tabs bar, than trying to combine them.

[yanike]

quotes by "DavidM"

"Nope, seems too confusing and others have said it's dangerous to hide the address of the site you are visiting. Remember IE9 will be used by "generally" but NOT ALWAYS less technical people, hiding elements from them is silly and dangerous. You really want people to have mouse over the address bar, every time to check is the site they are using is secure for transactions? Or that they haven't been re-directed at the last minute?"

No. The tabs can be used to show popup and click notifications (for redirects, fraud site, errors, etc.), use colors and icons for security and other reasons. The tabs can also just show an icon and a button to click that says "Security Risk" that explains things. This will be better than anything out now. You won't use a site when your tab turns into a security risk tab.

Even the address bar in browsers doesn't show the full address without scrolling or hovering it anyway.

Why take up so much space or a toolbar for an address bar when you can combine them and the new tab system can do the same thing and more?

You can also show a quick guide to new users that IE has anyways to explain new features to people not so technical.

"What was the blue bar sliding across the top of the page? Progress bar?"

Yes.

[DavidM]

No. The tabs can be used to show popup and click notifications (for redirects, fraud site, errors, etc.), use colors and icons for security and other reasons. The tabs can also just show an icon and a button to click that says "Security Risk" that explains things. This will be better than anything out now. You won't use a site when your tab turns into a security risk tab.

Even the address bar in browsers doesn't show the full address without scrolling or hovering it anyway.

IMG ~Snipped ~

Why take up so much space or a toolbar for an address bar when you can combine them and the new tab system can do the same thing and more?

You can also show a quick guide to new users that IE has anyways to explain new features to people not so technical.

"What was the blue bar sliding across the top of the page? Progress bar?"

Yes.

You still want people to move their mouse up to their address bar to check something that should be clearly visible to the novice/intermediate user. You're right they don't show the whole address but they still show vital information just with a quick glance, without the need to move anything. My address bar stretches from side to side, so I always see as much of the address as possible (and usually all of it).

You are still making "drastic UI changes" to a product that is well established and that causes problems for the people Microsoft wants to be happy, just ask Google about that whole background fiasco. They were writing news stories about it for Pete's sake, people were up in arms, shouting from the roof tops about a BACKGROUND of all things, everything else was still the same but it didn't matter. Microsoft will be cautious and probably mix a little chrome minimalism in to their already fairly clean interface.

[yanike]

You still want people to move their mouse up to their address bar to check something that should be clearly visible to the novice/intermediate user. You're right they don't show the whole address but they still show vital information just with a quick glance, without the need to move anything. My address bar stretches from side to side, so I always see as much of the address as possible (and usually all of it).

You are still making "drastic UI changes" to a product that is well established and that causes problems for the people Microsoft wants to be happy, just ask Google about that whole background fiasco. They were writing news stories about it for Pete's sake, people were up in arms, shouting from the roof tops about a BACKGROUND of all things, everything else was still the same but it didn't matter. Microsoft will be cautious and probably mix a little chrome minimalism in to their already fairly clean interface.

I know the changes will be drastic, but it's evolution. People will always complain. lol they complain about tabs being on top or bottom. They complain at first and then stop and start enjoying it.

Moving the address bar into the tab will simplify things. Some people get confused with tabs and how to use them. If you move the address bar into the tab, it will make it simplier for users to identify which tab they are using and about to navigate. It's more confusing for members to have all these search bars and toolbars to use. I've seen people with thousands (not literary) of toolbars on their PC and they don't even use them. They even get confused on which to use. Mainly because programs install toolbars on systems and users end up with lots of them.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

It would be simpler for users to click on a tab and use the tab's address bar knowing that THAT navigation bar will control that tab correctly.

[.Neo]

Possibly but that would be a usability nightmare with lots of textbox flickering. I'm not really sure what the benefit if this approach would be. The vertical space savings don't really outweigh the nuisance IMO.

Mac OS X manages to execute animations without flickering interface elements. You're saying Windows is incapable of doing so?

That said, I think tabs should just have their own bar.

[DavidM]

Address/tab bar combination will not stop people from installing a **** load of tool bars, and making the bottom picture soon look like the top.

[Mr. Gibs]

Nice.

I do find it funny though because yesterday (some 13 hours+) ago, I posted this on the front page news ;)

I mean maybe they could have come up with some cool idea that the address bar becomes part of the tab bar - ie when you click on a tab it expands to allow you to enter an address. But that just seems like a stretch.

[zhangm Supervisor]

I think there really are two extremes and nothing in the middle here. Either you use one or two tabs per window, or you have a dozen or more. In the latter case, even having the tabbar in its own toolbar doesn't really fix the issue of shortened tabs.

I personally like the QuickTabs feature, since you can see everything and manipulate tabs. It really gives you more information without much more effort (Ctrl + Q). Ultimately, I think the entire concept of a tabbar is going to change to something more efficient. What is a tabbar other than a horizontal menu that gets smaller and smaller, the more items you put on it? It does not scale gracefully, and should be replaced.