Mighty Nitpicker strikes again
From a WP forum thread:
target=”_new” is deprecated
…
target=”_new” is annoying
AAAAAAAGH! Target=”_new” doesn’t exist. It’s _blank. If you want a name a window “new” (or have a frame by that name), you should leave the underscore (_) out.
I’m so kind I didn’t write this in the forum… 
I guess they’re not aware that putting target=”anything” will open links in a new window provided there’s no other frame named that.
And I noticed in the forum that someone had to go on about the “let the users decide” – the whole right-click argument again.
There’s always somebody droning on and on about how the webmaster shouldn’t get to choose what opens in a new window, the user should.
I always hated that argument because I’m a big target=”_blank” fan myself. I don’t want people leaving my site and using ‘back’ ‘back’ ‘back’. I know I find it a pain in the ass.
I’m also a fan of _blank. I don’t like when I click an external link on a site and it opens in the same window because often I like to browse them simultaneously. Although, nowadays I’m so used to clicking “Open in new tab” (or Ctrl + click) that the target is no use to me.