target="_blank" and IE7 -- I want a new tab, not a new window

Have you checked the tab settings in your IE environment.  I believe this is a user setting and cannot be forced.  If IE7+ is setup to launch links in new window instead of a new tab then there is nothing that can be done to stop this.

Hmmm .... that's interesting. IE7 is set to always open pop-ups in a new window. Are internal links -- links on one page of a web site pointing to another page on the same web site -- always regarded as a pop-up? If so, is this something that is determined by HTML rules or is it a browser-specific behavior? I would think it's the latter, since Firefox and Chrome don't seem to treat these links the same way.

Just out of curiosity, is there an alternative to the target="_blank" code -- similar to the way that title= is an alternative to alt=?

Not that I'm aware of.  Only alternative I can think of would be to use clientside scripting with the onclick event.

What are the advantages and disadvantages to that approach, as compared to using target="_blank"?

And I'm still wondering about internal links. Are internal links -- links on one page of a web site pointing to another page on the same web site -- always regarded as a pop-up? If so, is this something that is determined by HTML rules or is it a browser-specific behavior?

And how would the link be regarded if I used clientside scripting with the onclick event?

Are there any downsides to using that method?