I just used Win32 APIs, and I made a window that "stuck to" the bottom of IE windows, and followed them around. The tabs were rendered there. I forgot what I did for maximized IE windows.
To make the tabs "switch" I basically hid and showed the IE windows, by their window handle. I think Win32 allowed you to do that to windows of other applications, back then.
To make the tabs "switch" I basically hid and showed the IE windows, by their window handle. I think Win32 allowed you to do that to windows of other applications, back then.