This difference is subtle. We have not yet tested its effectiveness with users. Summary Tabbed dialogs seem to be very effective for complex operations which are used infrequently. To use tabbed dialogs properly, users must reach beyond the familiar set of GUI operations. Nothing else in the standard tools requires this kind of abstraction, and experience with other applications does not help explain what went wrong when the user gets an unexpected result from these dialogs.
Tabbed dialogs are seductive.
Designers like them because they organize and arrange complex sets of operations clearly. Users like them at first glance for the same reason, but in using the product user attention is focused on the work, not the user interface tools. The intricate semantics that make the organization of the dialog possible become hazardous when the user's attention is elsewhere. Our final judgment on the current generation of tabbed dialogs is that they often cause more confusion than they are worth. All rights reserved.