I can respond to the CB even if I'm editing something and without using tabs. To refresh the cb, you simply press the preview button instead of the cb talk button; and to talk in the cb, you talk normally in the cb nodelet, then when the page loads, you press the back button. I believe this should work in any browser.

(These days, however, any browser I use has tabs; and I use a cb client that's not tied to my browser.)