Comment 12 for bug 306017

Having let so much time pass since I reported this, let me add a bit more history and further information to clarify my request:

1) Safari does include this functionality that the search box, like the location bar, is tab specific. I found it very useful there, inasmuch as I could have seperate search themes and search histories in different tabs.

One case in which this can be useful is when modifying the engine behind the search that is performed. For example, I would search for totally different things at Google as I would at CPAN or Amazon. Having them each in their own tab provides some additional organizational flexibility.

Perhaps this is not the behavior that everyone would like, but it strikes me as a reasonable configurable option. While I by no means expect Firefox to mimic all of Safari's good behavior, I think that the fact that Apple included this functionality is indicitive of the fact that it can be appealing/useful to many people. Some of you honestly sound like Internet Explorer defending the lack of tabs for as long as they could, because they just didn't understand how awesomly flexible they are. Sure, you have your habits, but if you want to get a feel of whether or not this functionality can be useful, go and use Safari for a while. Then at least you can make a more balanced judgement on the matter. :-)

2) As for the idea of being able to manually clear the search tab, that is a separate design decision, and probably ought to be split into a separate bug. That said, I'll comment on it here just the same. :-)

Rather than adding a menu option to clear the search bar, it would be easy to add a small X on the right side of it, that could be clicked on to clear the search bar. This is in fact what Safari does, and I find it to be rather convenient.

FWIW,
Charles