Tabbed-Browsing Coming to KDE's Konqueror Browser

Mike Angelo -- 4 July 2002 (C)

Watch out AOL, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Netscape! The Linux Desktop Browser War is heating up. KDE's Konqueror Web browser is about to get Tabbed Browsing. Please see Figure 1, below.

Microsoft does not currently publish a Linux compatible Web browser. However, the addition of tabbed-browsing to KDE's Konqueror browser is just another example of how the Linux desktop keeps getting better, and better, and better.

The K Desktop Environment (KDE) certainly has done lots to narrow the gap between the Linux desktop and the Microsoft Windows desktop. And the addition of tabbed-browsing to KDE's Konqueror browser is one more large step in closing that gap. In our opinion, the K Desktop Environment already is just as good as, if not better than, the MS Windows desktop.

Incidentally, once the Konqueror tabbed-browsing is fully integrated into the KDE binaries, Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) will be the only major browser that does not have tabbed browsing. Wonder if that will have any impact on Internet Explorer's estimated 90%-95% share of the browser market?

Figure 1. Screen shot of the upcoming KDE Konqueror browser with three page-display tabs opened. Please note the tabs are just above the displayed Web page. Konqueror has several sidebar viewing options that are not shown in this screen shot. (Adapted from a Konqueror.org screen shot.)

Perhaps the best feature included in the recently released Mozilla 1.0 browser is its tabbed browsing (Figure 2). Mozilla's tabbed-browsing is based upon a Mozilla add-on, MultiZilla, created and developed by Henk-Johan van Rantwijk and a few others well before the Mozilla Organization decided to adopt a tabbed-browsing feature for the Mozilla browser. Incidentally the MultiZilla add-on has more features than does Mozilla's tabbed browsing.

Figure 2. Screen shot of the Mozilla Browser with six page-display tabs opened. Please note the tabs are just above the displayed Web page. (1.0-RC1 browser module -- 13 April 2002 branch build)

Linux browsers that currently have tabbed-browsing include Mozilla 1.0, Netscape 7.0-PR1, and Opera. Microsoft Windows browsers that currently have tabbed-browsing include Crazy Browser 1.05, Mozilla 1.0, NetCaptor 7.01, Netscape 7.0-PR1, and Opera. AOL-Netscape 7.0-PR1 is based upon Mozilla 1.0-RC2 code, which includes tabbed browsing. Stilesoft's NetCaptor (Figure 3) appears to have had tabbed browsing before any of the other browsers mentioned here.

Figure 3. Screen shot of the Netcaptor Browser with two page-display tabs opened. Please note the tabs are just below the displayed Web page's horizontal scroll-bar.

KDE's Konqueror with tabbed-browsing is not available in the binaries, yet. It is available via the CVS, however. So, if you want to try Konqueror with tabbed-browsing now, you will have to do your own compiling.

Konqueror is a very good Web browser and File Manager for Linux. It is an integral part of the K Desktop Environment (KDE) for the Linux operating system (OS).

In our Mozilla 1.0 coverage, we have pointed out that except for the Mozilla Tabbed-Browsing feature, there is no compelling reason to use KDE's Konqueror browser rather than the Mozilla 1.0 browser. Once tabbed-browsing makes its way into the KDE binaries, there will be little or no reason to use the Mozilla browser rather than the KDE Konqueror browser.

KDE includes the K Desktop plus more than 100 applications including the Konqueror file manager and Web browser, which is nicely integrated into the K Desktop. The complete KDE package also includes games, office and productivity applications, Internet and system tools, graphics and multimedia programs, development tools, utilities, and lots more.