Google Testing Gmail Redesign

An anonymous reader writes "Google is testing out some big changes for Gmail. Some of the changes are: the sidebar has been replaced with a slide-in pane, the 'compose' button has been moved, and there's a new feature called 'reminders'. From the article: 'Gmail may soon look nothing like the Gmail we all know so well. Google has invited a select group of users to test a completely new interface for the webmail client, according to Geek.com, which appears to be part of the trial. The test version of Gmail — which may never see an official release — dispenses with design elements that have been present from the very early days of the email service.'"

The issue with GMail

[mgf64]

Aesthetics does not account for the lack of any way of contacting a Human should you come into trouble. A prettier GMAIL? Quite frankly, who gives a hoot? GMAIL is strutture in such a way as not to request "human labour", never. This makes it very, very frail and user support is, literally, non existing. If for any reason, you loose access to your account, you are basically fucked. Lessons learned: GMAIL is OK for basic throw/away don't care type of things. If you are using GMAIL professionally you are doing it wrong. First of all set the correct DNS records of a domain you own to point to a service, any service which allows you to set some [e-mail]. Should you not like the mail provider service, you can move your account where you like, and NEVER, EVER loose access to your mail account. First thing to check if you plan to use a service: is there a way to contact a human being? is there an actual phone number you can use to ask for assistance? If you can't contact them during sales phase, go someplace else.

Re:I kinda preferred the old GMail

[excelsior_gr]

Use this link to access your account:

https://mail.google.com/mail/?... [google.com]

The UI will launch in HTML mode. It is usually triggered for old browsers or slow internet connections.

Re:Can't make it any worse

[ThePhilips]

Try Gmail "Basic HTML" interface. Missing things are: the chat history (can still be accessed via "in:chats" search) and easy selection of multiple items.

Google has removed the link to activate it, so here it is [google.com].

From the basic, if you do not like it, you can always switch back to the "normal" interface. Only switch to the basic is via this special link.

Overall, works well for me. Definitely better than the mess they have made out of the GMail interface 2+ years ago.

Re:Indeed

[phantomfive]

My 'favorite' part of the new Google Maps design is trying to look at traffic. You have to mouse over the search bar. Makes perfect sense.