this model, and Firefox can, too. But Firefox takes the perspective that Web sites are different from documents. When you open a document, you generally intend to spend a fair amount of time working on it. When you open a Web site, you might spend as little as 30 seconds reading it. And because Web sites take time to load, many people prefer to open multiple pages at once so they have more to read while other pages are loading. Firefox offers tabbed browsing for users who maintain this kind of frantic and frenzied pace on the Web. Instead of being contained within a separate window as documents are, Web sites can be opened in tabs that appear along a tab strip along the top of the window, as shown in Figure 7-1. Figure 7-1: You can open multiple Web sites in a single window. To access a site, click its tab in the bar directly above the Content area. Thus, instead of behaving like separate papers on your desk, each window (group of tabs) is essentially a folder containing multiple items. You can view all your Web sites in the same window or you can maintain multiple "folders" for keeping track of different types of Web sites. For example, a journalist might choose to have one window that houses all her research Web sites and another window that houses all her entertainment Web sites. Some of the benefits of the tabbed approach are obvious. Your Windows taskbar is no longer cluttered with dozens of Web pages, each in its own window. Tabs open much more quickly than new windows. And unlike windows, they also open in the background, which means the tab you're currently looking at remains at the forefront. As you come across interesting links on the Web page you're reading, you can open them in new tabs for later viewing without getting distracted and losing your place. Other benefits are more subtle and start to emerge only after you get immersed in the new rhythm of tabbed surfing. So, it's time to begin! Opening a new site in a new tab When you enter an address into the Location Bar at the top of the window and press Enter, the new Web page loads in place of the one you were previously looking at. If you want to keep the current Web page open and load a new Web page simultaneously, you can load the new Web page in a tab that appears next to the old Web page in the tab strip at the top of the window. Choose File New Tab, and then enter the address of the page you want to visit into the Location Bar. It's that easy. Tip You can use the Ctrl+T shortcut in Windows ( +T on a Mac) to open a new, blank tab quickly. You can also open a site in a new tab by typing its address into the Location Bar and pressing Alt+Enter (Windows) or Option+Return (Mac). Or, if the tab strip is visible, you can double-click on any of its empty space (in other words, not on a tab) to open a new, blank tab. After the tab is open and selected, enter an address into the Location Bar to load a Web page in the tab. Opening a Linked site in a new tab One of the biggest advantages of tabbed browsing is that it allows you to open linked Web pages in new tabs for later viewing without losing your spot on the Web page you're reading. For example, say you're reading a news article about allergy season that cross-references (with a link) a story about a major new medication. To read this story without tabbed browsing, you have two choices: You can click the link when you encounter it, read the new story, and then return to the original story. Or you can open the link in a new window, wait for the new window to load, and then switch back to the original window. Neither option is ideal because each steals your focus away from the original story. With tabbed browsing, you can choose to open the linked story in a background tab that never obscures the original story. To open a linked Web page in a new tab, follow these steps: 1. Right-click the link you want to open in a new tab.