Discussion: Add ability to close tabs via double-click

MissyQ 

New Insider here, so I'm late to the party. Count me strongly opposed to "double-click to close" behavior.

I'm cross-platform (Mac / Win) and double-click has always been associated with "Open" for me--not close.

If anything, I would expect a double click on a tab to open it further (e.g., full-screen, as a new window). If it closed the tab, I would report it as a bug.

I'm having difficulty understanding why the standard right-click context menu and control-/command-W keyboard shortcut behaviors are insufficient. Menu selection does take more time (arguably double, or more), which could add up across many tabs; but it's the common and expected interaction pattern across products and platforms.

Assuming this is a case in which the click-"X"-to-close affordance is not available on the tab and a non-keyboard action is needed, the "shortest distance" to a solution would be to reintroduce the "X" to the tab, potentially on mouse-over / hover. This would allow keyboardless interaction while maintaining established and expected interaction patterns.

Ideally, a "condensed" tab (again assuming this is why the "X" is not available) would expand to show its name on hover, in addition to re-presenting the clickable "X"-to-close behavior.

Regarding the middle mouse button: Personally, I don't use the middle mouse button, just the scroll wheel. Professionally, from a UX and universal design / accessibility perspective, I have advised developers against expecting/requiring middle button use except for highly technical use cases (e.g., CAD, gaming) that have precedented widespread use. Browsing is far too common, shares too many patterns with operating systems and other increasingly-common tabbed software interfaces, and raises equipment concerns: not all users have three-button or gesture-enabled devices, trackpads may not be available in docked or desktop set-ups, and many middle mouse buttons--especially those combined with scroll wheels--present accessibility challenges.

I respectfully encourage looking at the underlying issue, identifying the standard cross-platform interaction / UI pattern for the desired behavior (closing a window/tab), and finding a way to reintroduce the standard pattern / affordance--rather than introducing a non-standard behavior for the ubiquitous double-click.