As a space-saving alternative to the tab bar a global mode line one can display information only in mode line in the bottom right corner, for example the date and time:
(defun display-time-bottom-right ()
(and (equal (cddr (window-pixel-edges))
(cddr (window-pixel-edges (frame-root-window))))
'(#(" " 0 1 (display (space :align-to (- right 20))))
display-time-string)))
(display-time-mode)
(setq global-mode-string '(:eval (display-time-bottom-right)))