ultimate geek girl

Everyone, check out your Gmail accounts for some really cool and much needed improvements! Some bloggers are calling the improvements Gmail 2.0, and I’m just calling it “a vast improvement of Gmail’s interface”. I’m loving the new functions in the contacts manager, as well as the option to return to the old version of Gmail.

The new version includes:

• Updates to the contacts manager. Now, you can search a lot easier within the contacts manager, insert photos from Picasa and input instant messenger data for many different programs for one user.
• New Information Box for Chat. When you move your mouse over a name in your chat box, you have an option to email, chat or “more” - which includes some of the same features from the previous Gmail version. The chat box itself has not changed.
• Additional options in the “More Actions” drop-down box. You can now “filter messages like these” or “mute” from the drop-down box.
• Message pre-fetching. I don’t have a lot of emails in my inbox, but I have noticed that the speed of emails loading is better, as messages are being pre-fetched.

These updates to Gmail have been available to some users already, and they are gradually rolling out to all Gmail users!

Here are a few of the screenshots I’ve found featuring the new Gmail’s interface and features.

If you are using plugins like Better Gmail or Customize Google, you may want to stick with the old version until the plugins are updated.

Thanks to Google Blogscoped, Lifehacker, Information Week and BioEng Thing for the screenshots and information!