More chat channel tabs is not the way to solve this. Local chat bubbles are a must, and furthermore a industry standard.
The UI will see some customization options in the near future, but what we need with that are chat bubbles. It only makes sense.
If you don't like chat bubbles, fine....turn them off. But they should be "on" by default. People who don't like chat bubbles are like left handed people, everything in the world is right handed by default.