Version: 1.0.1 (using KDE 3.5.6 "release 25.2" , openSUSE ) Compiler: Target: i586-suse-linux OS: Linux (i686) release 2.6.18.2-34-default Please set "focus new tabs" (Configure Konvi... » Tabs » Focus) to enabled by default - channels normally open instantly so there's no reason to wait.
Opening new tabs in the background is intentional, and for similar reasons as why tab browsers generally started behaving that way: It's better to leave control over when to perform a context switch to the user, instead of second-guessing them and assuming that's what they want to do.