[eco]

That was my first thought as well but after reading the article I'm not quite so conspiratorial about it. Regular users do not understand or properly use the URL bar. They may indeed want to do what you say but part of it is definitely just clearing up even more screen real estate and this is a fairly clever way to do it. The URL will still be there but only when you want to see it. If I'm understanding this correctly it'll be while the page is loading or if you click the tab it'll turn into a URL bar. I'm a little torn on the idea because I like quick glances at the URL but it would clear up an entire row and I can still type/see the URL if I need to with an extra click. I think I'll have to actually use for a few hours to decide if I love it or hate it.

I did just think of one problem though. Phishing will be even easier so they'll really have to step up their detection and warnings for those.