about:Tabs in IE7
When a new tab is created, you get the about:Tabs page.
File Menu
The File > New Tab item has a shortcut of Ctrl+T. New Window continues to use Ctrl+N.
The about:tab page <title> says “Welcome to Tabbed Browsing”. It’s main heading says You’ve opened a new tab.
After some tidying up, the main content says:
With tabs you can:
- Use one Internet Explorer window to view all your webpages.
- Open links in a background tab while viewing the page you’re on.
- Save and open multiple webpages at once by using favorites and home page tabs.
To get started:
- Press the Ctrl key while clicking links (or use the middle mouse button).
- Click any tab with the middle mouse button to close it.
- Press Alt+Enter from the address bar or search box to open the result in a new tab.
As usual, the Windows help documentation is expertly clear and precise.
Progressive Disclosure for Keyboard Shortcuts
I’ve adapted the table of shortcuts it provides and given it proper markup:
| To do this | Press this |
|---|---|
| Open link in a new tab in the background | Ctrl+Click |
| Open link in a new tab in the foreground | Ctrl+Shift+Click |
| Open a new tab in the foreground | Ctrl+T |
| Open a new tab from the Address bar | Alt+Enter |
| Open a new tab from the search box | Alt+Enter |
| Open Quick Tabs (thumbnail view) | Ctrl+Q |
| Switch between tabs | Ctrl+Tab/Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
| Switch to a specific tab number | Ctrl+n (n can be 1-8) |
| Switch to the last tab | Ctrl+9 |
| To do this | Press this |
|---|---|
| Open a link in a background tab | Click the middle mouse button on a link |
| Open a new tab | Double-click the empty space to the right of the last tab |
| Close a tab | Click the middle mouse button on the tab |
IE7’s View > Source shows you how these pages are made. It’s not a pretty sight.