Gmail getting a facelift?

Filed under: Internet, E-mail, Google, Beta

Gmail getting a facelift?

by Brad Linder Sep 23rd 2007

When Google launched an e-mail client back in 2004, the company best known for its search engine completely changed the way we think about e-mail. While Yahoo! and MSN were offering users mailboxes measured in megabytes, Gmail users had an unprecedented 1GB of storage. Messages were sorted by filters and labels and not folders. The threaded message view made it easier to keep up with conversations, and a machine was reading all of your e-mail to serve up relevant ads.

While Gmail inbox sizes have continued to grow, the user interface hasn't changed much in the last three years. But it looks like that could soon change. Googling Google reports there's evidence of a "new version" on the horizon.

Google relies on users who speak multiple languages to help translate the text of various Google services from English into other languages. One anonymous user was translating some Gmail language when he came across a box that implied a selected group of Google beta testers had access to a new version of the Gmail interface. We have no idea what's different in that version or how long it will be before we see a wider release.

We're hoping for folders. Or a Hello Kitty skin. Either one will do.

Tags: gmail, translation, user-interface

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

dwesnor said 7:29PM on 9-23-2007

I didn't know you could get gmail in pig latin.

Lisa Hoover said 7:31PM on 9-23-2007

I'd do backflips for folders. Then I might actually use it exclusively. Oh, and for the love of god...IMAP.

Denny Kluge said 11:00AM on 9-24-2007

Folders? Why?

morsey said 11:01AM on 9-24-2007

could be wide of the mark here, but found this while farting around before work:
http://gwt.google.com/samples/Mail/Mail.html

Qwfwq said 11:01AM on 9-24-2007

If you want folder then gmail definitely isn't for you.
I hope that gmail sticks to the labels (tags) for organization as it is a much more versatile and powerfull system. There are 3 things that differentiate gmail from the other webmail services and, in my opinions make it better:
- first, is the already use of labels instead of folders.
- second, is the sparsity of the interface.
- third, the threaded messages.

As for the changes I would like to see:
- Just clean up the interface a little, there are a few options and menus that could be done a little better, and make it a little more "ajaxy", with drag and drop of the labels.
- Better integration with other Google services (Calendar, Reader, Notebook, for ex.) could be better implemented.
- And of course tasks or to do lists would be welcomed.
-Finally, Google Gears for offline Gmail access.

As for some of the suggestions I have seen floating around, I don't find that more space is really necessary, >2.5Gb is more than enough for my needs, and IMAP is kinda of redundant for gmail, as I prefer its web interface to that of any desktop client.

For the rest keep it like it is because I believe that's exactly how gmail users want it.

telecommatt said 11:02AM on 9-24-2007

This seems to come quick on the heels of recent coverage Y! got with their new feature release. Coincidence?

mike said 11:04AM on 9-24-2007

If they offer IMAP, I'll immediately switch every email account I have to GMAIL.

Matt S. said 11:04AM on 9-24-2007

I really still after 3 years don't understand why people want folders. If anything labels/tags work the exact same way as folders, plus more. I think labels make organization so much better and easier than trying to use folders.

Brad Linder said 11:08AM on 9-24-2007

While folders aren't for everyone, it's still one of the top reasons we hear people say they're reluctant to switch to Gmail. Google recently added folders to Google Docs & Spreadsheets, showing it doesn't have to be an either/or thing. You can have labels and folders. We're not saying kill the labels, we're just saying we'd love to see Google add folders.

Karl said 11:36AM on 9-24-2007

I dont know about a Hello Kitty skin but folders would be an awesome addition. Anything cosmetic will also be a big improvement. I have been loving on them recently from the new google office apps and it is high time to add them to Gmail.

It seems like forever since we got any new additions! Come on Google hook us up!

Karl Gechlik of http://www.askTheAdmin.com

dwesnor said 11:50AM on 9-24-2007

Seriously, did nobody else notice the "translate to" language is pig latin, which is not one of the languages offered by gmail? This has the stink of a fake.

Jeebus said 1:42PM on 9-24-2007

Brad, you're still not offering a reason for why you'd want folders. I can't think of anything you can't do with labels.

bienvenunet said 12:29PM on 9-25-2007

I really can't think of any reason why I would need labels over hierarchical folders. The vast majority of messages that I keep are going into only one folder. They don't need more than one label. If you really need to add more than one label to a message, odds are you can find it just as easily with a good search tool.

The point is that not everybody wants to be forced to use labels. I'm certainly not going to manually tag several years' worth of email with labels when they are already in folders.

K said 10:52AM on 9-26-2007

I could care less about folders. Labels work just fine for me. However, I would like to see sorting. Sort by sender, date, subject, etc.

Kevin McCarthy said 9:39PM on 9-29-2007

I would like to see the "forward" mail be as smart as hotmail.

Matt S. said 5:52PM on 9-30-2007

Well think about it, you arent forced to label something more than once so that cancels out one complaint about labels, bienvenunet. You arent losing anything but you are gaining something by having labels as opposed to folders. Do they work exactly the same YES they do work exactly the same but labels can just do more IF and ONLY IF you want them to do more.

READ THESE WORDS, CAREFULLY... "LABELS ARE THE SAME THING AS FOLDERS!!!!!!" The name of a folder and the name of a label are still just one link you click. They both bring to a separate page. If they changed it to say Folders instead of labels and didnt change any functionally then someone coming in and seeing it would never know the difference. Just the fact that it gives you the ability to add the same file to multiple folders at one time.

Now if someone can actually give me an explanation on a disadvantage or even a difference between how they both work. Then please tell me. I havent see anyone actually tell us why they want folders over labels. What do folders do that labels can't?

Dwight Stegall said 7:39PM on 10-01-2007

i just gotta have a hello kitty skin. pretty please :)

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