I have this exact problem with Microsoft Azure as well. Changing pages always takes 5-10 seconds and you can't open in a new tab to open new tables concurrently. Makes working in their portal really inefficient.
Microsoft's new(er) Outlook web version puts a Windows phone 8 style back button on the screen, and disables your actual back button. I know they put a lot of effort into the design of this metro stuff, I can't understand it.