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Kate has support for tabs, but currently this is just a list of open files. I am sure it is useful for many people since it takes up less space in the sidebar, but I think it has potential to be much more useful. The idea is to make the tabs individual, independent views instead of being tied to specific files. So for instance you could have the same file (or different files) in three different tabs, but for each tab you can set the size, word wrapping, code folding, line numbers, and other view features separately. You could also have two files open in two separate tabs, and have a third tab where you have the two files open side-by-side in a split view. Changes in one tab are automatically mirrored in other tabs associated with the same file.

Honestly, dealing with the split view is my primary reason for this. Currently you can switch back and forth between files easily, but there is no way to keep multiple different split views open, or a combination of split views and non-split views. To look at another file in non-split mode you need to turn split view off, look at the other file, go back to the first split file, turn split view back on, and then open the second split file. Having tabs treated as separate views bypasses this problem, while also allowing for other view settings to be individually configured. And it would still be possible to associate the tabs with files (you could even have an "open all files as tabs" option).