Ability to merge windows into tabs and move a tab into a new windo

[Matt Sawyer]

I often find myself wishing that I could do two things with IE:

1) Take two IE windows, each with one or more tabs, and merge them together
into a single window with the tabs from both. This would help reduce
clutter in my taskbar.

2) Take a tab and convert it into an IE window of its own as often times I
want to be able to see two web sites at the same time (side by side), which I
can't seem to do if they are tabs in the same window. Either that or some
sort of 2 page view where you can see two tabs side by side and can navigate
each separately.

Would like to see these 2 things in IE9 when it comes out.


----------------
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suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...&dg=microsoft.public.internetexplorer.general

 

[Gordon]

"Matt Sawyer" <Matt Sawyer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5B442B5B-9993-437A-BAB9-C6483CDE0832@microsoft.com...
>
> 2) Take a tab and convert it into an IE window of its own as often times
> I
> want to be able to see two web sites at the same time (side by side),
> which I
> can't seem to do if they are tabs in the same window. Either that or
> some
> sort of 2 page view where you can see two tabs side by side and can
> navigate
> each separately.

You can do that now. Make sure the tab is active then do File-New Window.

 

[VanguardLH]

Matt Sawyer wrote:

> I often find myself wishing that I could do two things with IE:
>
> 1) Take two IE windows, each with one or more tabs, and merge them together
> into a single window with the tabs from both. This would help reduce
> clutter in my taskbar.

I would think that would violate the whole point of loose coupling in IE8
which is to protect separate instances of iexplore.exe by isolating the
processes within each.

http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/03/11/ie8-and-loosely-coupled-ie-lcie.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/07/28/ie8-and-reliability.aspx

Some web browsers (not all) that provide for isolation between each session
do so by starting a whole new process for it. IE doesn't do that and
instead groups several tabs under one process so if one kills that process
than not all of them get killed.

> 2) Take a tab and convert it into an IE window of its own as often times I
> want to be able to see two web sites at the same time (side by side), which I
> can't seem to do if they are tabs in the same window. Either that or some
> sort of 2 page view where you can see two tabs side by side and can navigate
> each separately.
>
> Would like to see these 2 things in IE9 when it comes out.

This is the wrong place to ask. There is a beta newsgroup for IE9 (which,
as I recall, is still in a preview version that doesn't even qualify as a
beta). Microsoft's Connect site (http://connect.microsoft.com/IE) is
another place but I don't know if the IE board is still open for bug reports
and requests for enhancements.

> ----------------
> This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, ...

A suggestion is not a question. Despite Microsoft's attempt to usurp
Usenet, this is still a newsgroup.

What is Usenet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsgroups
http://www.masonicinfo.com/newsgroups.htm
http://www.mcfedries.com/Ramblings/usenet-primer.asp

When using a webnews-for-dummies interface (e.g., Microsoft's Communities,
Google Groups, or a leech site using a forum-to-Usenet proxy), those are
gateways to Usenet. Despite the pretense of a forum, you are participating
in a newsgroup (aka Usenet).

Posting suggestions here in hoping that Microsoft will see them is about as
effective as pushing a disconnected crosswalk button.

 

[Matt Sawyer]

Re: Ability to merge windows into tabs and move a tab into a new w

"VanguardLH" wrote:

> Matt Sawyer wrote:
>
> > 1) Take two IE windows, each with one or more tabs, and merge them together
> > into a single window with the tabs from both. This would help reduce
> > clutter in my taskbar.
>
> I would think that would violate the whole point of loose coupling in IE8
> which is to protect separate instances of iexplore.exe by isolating the
> processes within each.
>
> http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/03/11/ie8-and-loosely-coupled-ie-lcie.aspx
> http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/07/28/ie8-and-reliability.aspx
>
> Some web browsers (not all) that provide for isolation between each session
> do so by starting a whole new process for it. IE doesn't do that and
> instead groups several tabs under one process so if one kills that process
> than not all of them get killed.

That just makes the solution easier. Since the tab (or set of tabs)
runs in their own process separate from the framework, isn't it just a matter
of tearing down the GUI in one instance, rebuilding it in the other, and
transferring control of the tab process?

I know that's an over-simplification (to say the least), but seems do-able.

> Posting suggestions here in hoping that Microsoft will see them is about as
> effective as pushing a disconnected crosswalk button.

I just followed the instructions on the IE website, which said to post
suggestions here. If they read it, great. If not, maybe one of their
competitors will.

 

[Matt Sawyer]

Re: Ability to merge windows into tabs and move a tab into a new w

"Gordon" wrote:
>
> "Matt Sawyer" <Matt Sawyer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:5B442B5B-9993-437A-BAB9-C6483CDE0832@microsoft.com...
> >
> > 2) Take a tab and convert it into an IE window of its own as often times
> > I
> > want to be able to see two web sites at the same time (side by side),
> > which I
> > can't seem to do if they are tabs in the same window. Either that or
> > some
> > sort of 2 page view where you can see two tabs side by side and can
> > navigate
> > each separately.
>
> You can do that now. Make sure the tab is active then do File-New Window.

It didn't even dawn on me to try that. Thanks!

 

[Matt Sawyer]

Re: Ability to merge windows into tabs and move a tab into a new w

"Matt Sawyer" wrote:

>
>
> "VanguardLH" wrote:
>
> > Matt Sawyer wrote:
> >
> > > 1) Take two IE windows, each with one or more tabs, and merge them together
> > > into a single window with the tabs from both. This would help reduce
> > > clutter in my taskbar.
> >
> > I would think that would violate the whole point of loose coupling in IE8
> > which is to protect separate instances of iexplore.exe by isolating the
> > processes within each.
> >
> > http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/03/11/ie8-and-loosely-coupled-ie-lcie.aspx
> > http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/07/28/ie8-and-reliability.aspx
> >
> > Some web browsers (not all) that provide for isolation between each session
> > do so by starting a whole new process for it. IE doesn't do that and
> > instead groups several tabs under one process so if one kills that process
> > than not all of them get killed.
>
> That just makes the solution easier. Since the tab (or set of tabs)
> runs in their own process separate from the framework, isn't it just a matter
> of tearing down the GUI in one instance, rebuilding it in the other, and
> transferring control of the tab process?
>
> I know that's an over-simplification (to say the least), but seems do-able.

Here's a little more thought on possible solutons...

The tabs can already be dragged around to change the order in the tab bar.
It would be cool if you could drag and drop a tab onto the desktop and that
would cause it to move into a new window of its own. That would be much
quicker and more user friendly I think than selecting the tab, choosing
File->New Window, then going back and closing the tab.

Similiarly, if you could drag and drop a tab from one IE window to another
and have it move the tab that would be very cool. But there are lots of
times when I end up with 3 or 4 IE windows each with one or 2 tabs that I
just want to quickly merge all into one IE window, so a "merge all" type
function would still be needed.

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

"Matt Sawyer" <Matt Sawyer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5B442B5B-9993-437A-BAB9-C6483CDE0832@microsoft.com...
> I often find myself wishing that I could do two things with IE:
>
> 1) Take two IE windows, each with one or more tabs, and merge them
> together
> into a single window with the tabs from both. This would help reduce
> clutter in my taskbar.


Workaround: use a tab group in one. Alt-a,T Then switch to the other
window and open the tab group. Ctrl-i Ctrl-Enter (assuming you name your
new tab group so that it would then the first item in the Favorites bar.
<w>)


>
> 2) Take a tab and convert it into an IE window of its own as often times
> I
> want to be able to see two web sites at the same time (side by side),
> which I
> can't seem to do if they are tabs in the same window. Either that or
> some
> sort of 2 page view where you can see two tabs side by side and can
> navigate
> each separately.


That's Ctrl-N


>
> Would like to see these 2 things in IE9 when it comes out.


Ctrl-N has been there since IE4. ; )


FYI

Robert Aldwinckle
---

 

[VanguardLH]

Re: Ability to merge windows into tabs and move a tab into a new w

Matt Sawyer wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> Matt Sawyer wrote:
>>
>>> 1) Take two IE windows, each with one or more tabs, and merge them together
>>> into a single window with the tabs from both. This would help reduce
>>> clutter in my taskbar.
>>
>> I would think that would violate the whole point of loose coupling in IE8
>> which is to protect separate instances of iexplore.exe by isolating the
>> processes within each.
>>
>> http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/03/11/ie8-and-loosely-coupled-ie-lcie.aspx
>> http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/07/28/ie8-and-reliability.aspx
>>
>> Some web browsers (not all) that provide for isolation between each session
>> do so by starting a whole new process for it. IE doesn't do that and
>> instead groups several tabs under one process so if one kills that process
>> than not all of them get killed.
>
> That just makes the solution easier. Since the tab (or set of tabs)
> runs in their own process separate from the framework, isn't it just a matter
> of tearing down the GUI in one instance, rebuilding it in the other, and
> transferring control of the tab process?

Except WHICH tab process rolled under the one instance of iexplore.exe do
you keep (to roll under another instance of iexplore.exe) which results in
losing the other tabs under that instance? If each tab were a separate
process (I think Chrome does this), you can simply adopt any of them by one
of the frame processes. You wouldn't be ripping any UI away from the tab
process. IE8 manages several tabs under one process. Nothing really to do
with the UI. While YOU only see the effected change in the UI, there is a
lot more management of processes and the tabs controlled by them then just
the UI.

Personally I would've liked if Microsoft has followed Chromium's way (to
which Chrome is an adaption) and used a separate process for each tab. Then
you can't lose other tabs rolled under the same tab process because there's
only one tab being managed by that process. From the following article, it
actually may be possible to do that but making IE8 use a separate process
for each tab doesn't mean that crash isolation is actually implemented as
well as if the bottom-up design had originally planned on complete
isolation.

https://blogs.msdn.com/askie/archiv...a-new-process-with-internet-explorer-8-0.aspx

Maybe if TabProcGrowth = 1 then there would be just 1 iexplore.exe for each
tab to help keep them isolated. Of course, with IE8 being designed to merge
tabs under one process, memory consumption probably isn't efficient with 1
tab per 1 process. That would be another thing to test against Chrome's 1
process for each tab.

Setting TabGrowth = 1 to see if one iexplore.exe process gets started for
each tab (which still won't help you mix and match which ones belong to
which frame process) and check their sizes versus the individual tab
processes for Chrome sounds like an interesting experiment. That'll go in a
sticky note on my screen to remind me to do this later (inside of a virtual
machine rather than putz around and possibly fuck up my real host).

>> Posting suggestions here in hoping that Microsoft will see them is about as
>> effective as pushing a disconnected crosswalk button.
>
> I just followed the instructions on the IE website, which said to post
> suggestions here. If they read it, great. If not, maybe one of their
> competitors will.

I'd try the Connect site to see if the IE board is still active there.
While MVPs visit here, they aren't Microsoft employees. I haven't any
definitive and qualitative report of just how many or if any posts marked
with the "suggestion" signature ever get looked at by Microsoft.
Considering the huge number of repeated posts regarding common suggestions
for enhancement or bug reports that show up under the microsoft.* groups and
how little you ever see that they get addressed in the next version, it
certainly looks like the "suggestion" button is just a pacifier button to
calm users by making them think it has some effect.