While i understand that not everyone likes tabs - i dont really get what this whole “fix it” is about. You can set Obsidian in a way that it opens new notes always in the current tab (i think thats even the default behaviour) - so there is actually no new tab created. Using panes is still the same like ever.
What exactly is the workflow you miss and that you are not able to recreate right now? Just telling “fix it, i hate tabs” isnt helping anyone in providing answers.