Well, they do! Editing an article doesn't change what other articles link to it, or what older revisions of it are stored in the database, or the presence of its talk page...
The following may behave in unexpected ways: * Related changes (but I just inserted a link here!) * Move this page (where did my edits go?)
"Watch this page" might also cause problems: Say you load "Watch this page" in the background and then save your edit, but with the "Watch this article" checkbox turned off - in that case the already watched article is transparently unwatched.
I think the mode lock-in has the advantage of sending a clear message: "Hey, you're editing. You need to save this before doing anything else!"
But that's not a true message, unless they're running Lynx on a singletasking DOS machine with the right arrow on the keyboard broken...
Most people browse in single window mode. But perhaps this risk is exaggerated, thanks to Microsoft people already know that they have to click "Save" as often as possible ..
How about this:
View mode Edit mode ---------------- -------------------- Edit this page View article Watch this page [View subject page] Move this page Older versions Discuss this page What links here Older versions What links here Related changes
Regards,
Erik