diff -urpa mc-4.8.20.orig/src/editor/editdraw.c mc-4.8.20/src/editor/editdraw.c
--- mc-4.8.20.orig/src/editor/editdraw.c	2017-03-04 17:51:38.000000000 +0000
+++ mc-4.8.20/src/editor/editdraw.c	2018-04-09 12:30:00.046507381 +0000
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@
 /* Toggles statusbar draw style */
 gboolean simple_statusbar = FALSE;
 
-gboolean visible_tws = TRUE;
-gboolean visible_tabs = TRUE;
+gboolean visible_tws = FALSE;
+gboolean visible_tabs = FALSE;
 
 /*** file scope macro definitions ****************************************************************/