Google prepping Gmail 2.0
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.
If your account has the new interface, please let us know in the comments if you've noticed any other differences.
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.
If your account has the new interface, please let us know in the comments if you've noticed any other differences.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-29-2007 @ 9:29PM
Andrew said...
I have noticed that it is faster and the new contacts section is a lot better organized.
Reply
10-29-2007 @ 9:35PM
Michael said...
Not too many differences...I would have hoped for more AJAX features like in Yahoo Mail...but I still feel that GMail is superior to the rest.
It does indeed load much faster and the new contacts section is great...
Reply
10-29-2007 @ 11:03PM
kastonie said...
talk about some garbage, People are now able to look at the new 2.0 interface and my gmail account still didnt even get IMAP yet....man..im tired of being patient
Reply
10-29-2007 @ 11:12PM
markchiang said...
In "more actions" drop down box, I have a new option called "Mute".
You can see screen shot here
http://markchiang.blogspot.com/2007/10/gmail-20.html
Reply
10-29-2007 @ 11:25PM
piXelman said...
kastonie, you don't happen to have "Basic HTML" turned on at the bottom of your Gmail do you? With Basic HTML turned on, you don't have access to the IMAP section on the Settings tab.
Reply
10-29-2007 @ 11:50PM
Steve said...
The Chat feature now works in Safari :)
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 12:00AM
jstudio said...
The new spam filter overkills. It tagged more than 50 messages as spam that are not. This may not result from the 2.0 upgrade. But I have to pay much attention to the spam folder from now on. ehh..
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 12:09AM
Mike said...
I noticed that it's much faster. Messages load almost instantaneously.
The filters are pretty handy as well.
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 6:24AM
Marc said...
Very Nice, Very Fast - Well Done Gmail!
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 7:57AM
koolio said...
I can't wait anymore. I have 2 accounts with GMail, the one I always use doesn't have IMAP, and the one I don't use has IMAP option. WTH wrong with GMail.
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 7:58AM
Woopsicle said...
my account was upgraded to the new interface. But the new interface has crashed my Firefox 2.0.0.8 about 5 times today. Using the older versions instead.
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 7:59AM
Marat Levit said...
This morning I noticed the "Loading..." text was a bit different. When entering the Gmail page I saw the "Older version" text.
The new UI is not different. Emails loads in a flash, there is no waiting time, you click and it's there.
The contacts have had the biggest change I've seen so far. Split up into three columns, you have your Groups, Contacts and their Information.
Everything else is pretty much the same. As most I'm hopping for a few more changes, like a folder system, a brand new look and my personal request, different signatures for different accounts (accounts which I get Gmail to retrieve for me).
Thank you,
Marat Levit
www.mlevit.wordpress.com
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 7:59AM
Lita said...
I have the newer version and.. Is it just me, or has anyone else's Gmail Notifier add-on for Firefox stopped working?
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 7:59AM
rao.murlidhar said...
Don't know when will this feature will roll out. my imap hasn't yet been activated. yawm. i know my default language is english(US).
Settings > General > Language > Gmail Display Language > English(US).
Is there anything to be done?
ah forgot and numerous logins and logout with cookie clearing.
:(
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 8:01AM
zuner said...
Hovering over any contact under the FROM field shows his photo as well in a "snap preview" kind of overlay box.
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 8:16AM
Mark O'Neill said...
I have the new interface but the contacts window does NOT open in Firefox. Is anyone else having this really irritating problem?
I blogged about the whole situation at http://www.betterthantherapy.net
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 8:36AM
Tom said...
I still don't even have the IMAP option!!! C'mon google, roll stuff out already!
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 8:57AM
Kevin said...
the feature that got my attention that something was different was when i logged on yesterday and the chat was enabled. i use the stand alone app to chat and therefore disable it in gmail. so I clicked on "turn off chat" on the bottom and there was no page reload, it just turned the chat function off and left it on the page.
apparently you can also just sign in from the chat client without having to click "turn on chat" at the bottom. once you sign on it changes the bottom to "turn off chat".
pretty, pretty, pretty cool IMO
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 1:20PM
Saskwatch said...
I have problems with 2.0 in Firefox as well. The Contacts window does not open, and GMail notifier extension does not work either. I am not so much worried about the extension. I am sure the developer will update it at some point, but I wish I knew what was going on with the Contacts window.
Lastly, I have mixed emotions about any real changes to the UI. Some sites have take AJAX to overkill level, and there is something refreshing about the simplicity of GMail's interface. Now on the other hand, Yahoo! has taken great stides in improving the interface for both Search and Mail. It would have been nice to have seen Google incorporate some of the features like Drag N Drop, auto-complete searching, etc. Let's face it, it is time to snazz up the interface just a little - IMHO.
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 2:41PM
Eleventeen said...
If you really want Gmail skinned differently, load up the 'Stylish' extension in Firefox (or use comparable Greasemonkey scripts). There's lots of keen looking skins available.
Reply