I guess the ease of the operations depends greatly on what browser, editor and OS. :-) On windows at least, it's easier for me to just save it and open with the appropriate editor.

I just tested those two nodes with Mozilla and Notepad by doing a ^A^C<Alt-Tab>^N^V and it works fine. The spaces come out spaces and the tabs come out tabs. I don't have Opera (nor do I want it) but I'm sure that someone else will be able to tell you if it happens to them.