Do You Like Tabs on Top or Bottom?

Being a long-time Mozilla Firefox user, the first time I gave Google’s Chrome browser a shot, I felt myself lost. You wouldn’t think that a small aesthetics change would be a big deal, but if you’re familiar with a certain configuration, and use it day in and day out, even the smallest of changes can throw you for a loop and make the new experience less-than-comfortable.

I hate to admit it, but I’m starting to consider getting rid of Firefox and switching over to Chrome due to issues I’ve been having, so I’ve found myself becoming a bit more accustomed to having the tabs on top, although I do find them a wee bit more inconvenient at times due to the fact that they’re further away from where my mouse cursor generally is. But that’s a minor issue in the grand scheme.

The reason I’ve been thinking a bit about this is because Mozilla released a video the other day that helps explain the reason behind the project moving the tabs to the top of the browser for Firefox 4.0. Of course, since Firefox has always had the tabs underneath the address bar and bookmarks bar, this change couldn’t have been taken lightly, and it wasn’t. The video goes on to explain the exact reasons the tabs are smarter to be up top, and they’re all good ones.

The overarching reason that the developer team feels tabs on top are best is because it helps the entire application become more streamlined, which will especially be true when HTML5 websites and services begin to crop up that enable special menu systems and more application-like features. Still, I’m not entirely sold on the idea, even though I have been rather content in using Chrome with its tabs on top.

What do you guys think? Do you prefer the tabs on top or bottom, or does it matter? For those who do prefer the tabs on bottom, don’t fret. As of 4.0, right-clicking the tab bar will offer the option to have the tabs on the top or bottom. The only difference is that the tabs will be on top by default, effectively mimicking Google Chrome and Opera.

Contributors who are active in the Mozilla community will know that this debate literally goes back for years. So in some respects this video will serve as quick summary of all of the different arguments both for an against the change. But the more interesting part isn’t about looking back, it’s about looking forward. Recently modern browsers have been transitioning to placing tops on top, and that decision isn’t arbitrary, it isn’t about fashion. The change to placing tabs on top isn’t about one browser versus another browser, it’s about the evolution of the Web as a platform.