IE7 New Tab vs New Frame inconsistencies

[albenzing]

In Beta 3 and the new RC 1 of IE7, I had hoped to find Tabbed Browsing to be useful and simple to use. Instead this has been a very frustrating experience.

The problem: When clicking on a link, there there is No Control over whether a New Tab, a New Frame, or a New Page in the Current Frame will occur.

There are lots of 'Settings' and 'Shortcuts' that seem to be designed to give the user the desired control, but they just don't work - at least not in a predictable way.

For example, the Tools/Internet Options/Tab "Settings", has the expected options. So - I have selected the following:

"When a pop-up is encountered:" "Always open pop-ups in a new tab"

and

"Open links from other programs in:" "A new tab in the current window".

With these settings, I would expect most, if not all, links to automatically create a New Tab in the Current Window. Once in a while it will do so - but most of the time a New Window is created - aargh.

Similarly - I've tried to use the Shortcuts to accomplish the same thing - with the same lack of success. It doesn't seem to matter whether I use CTRL-left click, SHIFT+CTRL-left click, or just a plain left click. The result is that the link will trigger a New Window!

Apparently I'm really missing the point of New Tabs if I can't get IE7 to reliably open new content in a New Tab

Looking forward to any assistance or advise.

Thanks

Al