In the latest update of Chrome, I noticed that they introduced a new feature: the ability to relocate your tabs to a vertical list on the left side if the window. I thought, “That’s very weird,” so (of course) I tried it.
My verdict: It is weird. But I think I like it better.
With horizontal tabs (the old way), as you add more tabs, the tabs shrink in width, eventually becoming unreadable. With vertical tabs (the new option), I can resize a splitter and pick how wide the titles are. This lets me keep all my tabs in one window and read more of each tab’s title. There’s also a tab search button, which I’ve found to be useful. Tab groups are a little more intuitive to use.
The downside: it’s been challenging to remember to look on the left for the tabs; I keep looking up to the top first. It’s taking some getting used to.
I give Google some credit for basically committing sacrilege for web browser purists. They took something people knew well (horizontal tabs at the top of a web browser) and offered a sacrilegious and possibly superior option. My guess is that most people won’t switch.
My verdict: if you don’t usually have many tabs open, you probably won’t want to switch. If you’re someone who has multiple tabs in multiple windows, you may prefer the vertical tab layout once you get used to it.
For me, it’s too soon to tell, but I like the advantages.
Obligatory marketing content: Has it been a while since you’ve been to our website? Let’s fix that.