You can also middle click to open in a new tab, btw.
Dave's position has always been to never program software to make assumptions on behalf of the user. Your browser's default is to open the link in the same window, to change that behavior is forcing the user to do something else.
For the record, I'm with you all, and I agree that these days, almost every website opens the link in another tab, and I like that much much better.
