Opening new tabs in Vista vs XP

jabrams007

I have a question/problem that I was wondering if some of the more tech savvy people on this forum could help me out with.

I have a desktop that runs Windows Vista. I also have a netbook that I use for school that runs Windows XP. For both machines, I use Firefox to browse the web. Ever since, years ago, I switched over from using Internet Explorer to Firefox, I've become a "new tab addict." Rather than opening up webpages/sites in the current tab/window I'm looking at, I like to open up multiple pages in different tabs. For example, when I go to these forums, I right click and open up new tabs for all the various threads that I'm interested in reading, rather than reading a thread, hitting "back" and clicking on a new thread.

The problem that I'm having is that recently, something changed so that when I right-click in Windows Vista on my desktop, "open link in new tab" is the first option, while in Windows XP on my netbook, it's the second option. It's a pain in the ass going back and forth between my two machines because invariably, I get used to one, only to suddenly open up all these new windows when I switch to my other machine.

Is there any way I can change the order of the "right-click" options so "open link in new tab" occupies the same position on both my machines? Thanks!

Omnutia

Does your netbook have the option of pressing both mouse buttons at the same time acting as a middle click?

Churba

Are you sure both versions of firefox are up to date? I know there was an update not too long ago where they switched the order of those two menu options.

MrRoboto

meh, I always use either middle click or Ctrl + left click

Apreche

Why are you right clicking? Just middle click.

jabrams007

Thank you, Churba. I feel like an idiot. My desktop had been updated to Firefox 5.0, while my netbook was still running 4.something. Now that I've updated that, they both have the options in the same spot. I wonder why Firefox decided to move "open link in new tab" from the second option to the first.

Also, thank you to everyone who pointed out that you can middle click to open a new tab. I didn't realize that.

I guess you really do learn something new (or many new things) every day.

Churba

Thank you, Churba. I feel like an idiot. My desktop had been updated to Firefox 5.0, while my netbook was still running 4.something. Now that I've updated that, they both have the options in the same spot. I wonder why Firefox decided to move "open link in new tab" from the second option to the first.

Don't worry, because it was A)a total guess inspired by a half-forgotten idea of a reddit thread I saw a while back whinging about the change, and B)Total luck.

Also, I got it right, Sweet!

Aria

While on the subject of teaching you ways to improve your computing experience. Try using Ubuntu or Mint on the computer running Vista (You can get 'live-CD' versions of both) and seeing how you like it. Your computer will probably seem a lot faster and be easier to use.

Maybe also give Sabayon a try, since you can get it with Gnome 3 and KDE.
Edit: Burn this to a CD and boot with it inside your computer. It's a Fedora Live CD with Gnome 3 on it.

Apreche

While on the subject of teaching you ways to improve your computing experience. Try using Ubuntu or Mint on the computer running Vista (You can get 'live-CD' versions of both) and seeing how you like it. Your computer will probably seem a lot faster and be easier to use.

Maybe also give Sabayon a try, since you can get it with Gnome 3 and KDE.
Edit: Burn this to a CD and boot with it inside your computer. It's a Fedora Live CD with Gnome 3 on it.

Yeah, I would not recommend Sabayon. In my experience, it's a mess.

Rezz

I love middle clicking. I was unaware of the CTRL and left click though. That'll help when I'm in Windows 7, when tapping both buttons won't open a new tab, unlike Ubuntu.