What type of file is it that you're opening? Most of the shared-file content on my installation is either pdf or an office doctype (xls, ppt, doc). I don't think I've changed any of the default settings, and it's currently opening pdfs in a new tab without changing the location of the page itself.
Are you sure it's not a conflict in your own browser config? If you're in IE, maybe try it in FF to see if it's still doing it.
Good luck!
Kevin