Tabs are wonderful!!
To get the best out of them, go to "Options > Startup > Startup Interface" and set "Location" to "Last Location"
Having done that, the next time you launch MC, each tab will open as it was when you closed MC.
You can open a new tab by clicking on the little stub at the end of the row, or by clicking on a tree location with the middle mouse button. If you make use of the "Links" that you see over to the right of the tabs, it's also possible to have these open in a new tab when clicked on. (right click on a link and explore the "customise links" option)
Using the little stub, you can open a maximum of six tabs.
Using the middle click method, there is no limit.
To close a tab, you must first switch to it, then use the little cross button to close that tab.
If you really don't want to use tabs at all, you can turn them off by going to: "View > Split View" and clicking on the "Show tabs" item. It acts as a toggle, so, repeat to turn them back on again.
Does that help?