Wednesday 7 November, 2007

Gmail get new improved look (web 2.0)

Gmail's New Version Is Now Available

The new version of Gmail

"Google during the recent Analyst Day announced they want to release an updated version of Gmail that's supposed to be faster than the current one, thanks to a JavaScript back-end rewrite," said Google Blogscoped publisher Philipp Lenssen in a blog post. "Also, the new version aims to improve contacts management. 'Gmail 2.0' -- possibly the announced update -- was also mentioned in Google's internal company goals last year, the aim being to achieve '70% user happiness' for that version."

It might be a good idea to scrutinize your Gmail account more closely than usual these days. Not only is Google in the process of rolling out IMAP support, but it looks like some users are able to access a new version of Gmail. If you notice a new option that says "older version" or "newer version" at the upper right-hand corner, you're probably in. It should be right between the "settings" and "help" tabs.

Google Blogoscoped has a series of sreenshots showing some of the differences. Gmail 2.0 reportedly loads faster, although it's a bit early to say how much faster. And there's a much more detailed contacts section. There's a new contacts manager and the option to add images for contacts directly from Picasa Web. There also appears to be an option to "filter messages like these" from the Gmail "More Actions" drop down box.