Google recently began rolling out the new layout for G-Mail. Initially I was annoyed at the popup window offering me the "new look" but I figured I better dive in since it was going to be forced on everyone eventually. These are my initial impressions.
I was surprised and disappointed that they didn't port over the old themes, but after a week now I've been very happy with the new Basic Black theme. In addition I've found the new button layout to be absolutely fantastic. I think my favorite aspect is that I can now mark all as read with two clicks rather than the four it took me previously.
I did find the default display density of comfortable to be a massive waste of my screen real estate, but luckily this is easily changed with two clicks of the inbox settings button. The compact display density shows many more messages per page which is a much more efficient method of displaying the inbox.
I've heard some grumbling about the fact that the labels in the navigation pane to the left are hidden unless there are new messages. Sure, the rollover effect may be slow on some older machines or browsers, but in any modern environment this is a great improvement. I can now keep all of my 15+ labels neatly hidden away unless they require my attention.
Overall I think this was a step in the right direction. The interface is simplified and cleaned up and the other improvements Google made have pushed this product in a good direction.
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