Finally, Gmail Exits The Land Of Beta

I wouldn’t have noticed it had I not read about it first on Tech Crunch and a couple of other technology sites. Google’s email program – Gmail – which has been around for five years now and of which I am a committed user, finally has exited beta. Gmail along with several other Google applications (apps) no longer are sitting in beta which means they are ready for your review.

Say that again?

Gmail has long past AOL mail in the number of worldwide users and should soon overtake AOL in the US market alone. Hotmail and Yahoo mail are still out of reach, but Hotmail’s numbers are declining at least in the US. Yahoo seems to have its top position secured for right now, but as we all know Google will do whatever it can to increase its market share at the expense of everyone else.

Bye, Bye Microsoft Office

I long ago quit using Microsoft Office products, having embraced OpenOffice a few years back. Along with Gmail, the suite of Google apps being touted make Google a worthy Microsoft competitor especially if you like to share files and documents. Currently, Google’s apps include Google Docs, Google Talk, Google Calendar and other stuff, something Google charges businesses just $50 per year per user which is about one-third the price of Microsoft.

Lots of businesses have gotten rid of in-house email, choosing to sign up their employees to Gmail which means that they can outsource some of their Information Technology needs. I once used Hotmail (got banned for spamming so they locked down my account….grrr) and I still used Yahoo Mail for one or two back up email addresses. Honestly, I think Gmail is the best email product hands down especially since I can use it as an email aggregation where I can pull in mail from various accounts. Oh, by the way, Outlook has failed me miserably too on several occasions.

A Beta Label Freaks Some People Out

Tech Crunch reported that Google removed the beta label for its customers who may have viewed it as a stumbling block to Google Apps. Some business folks freak out when they see the word “beta” used, thinking that they’re getting a test product that is flawed and certain to crash. Believe me, I can relate to this as I have customers who aren’t particularly web savvy, but see beta as an obstacle worth avoiding.

Of course, if you miss seeing the beta label with Gmail you can get it back by visiting Google Labs, click on settings where you can enable the beta label.

Photo Credit:  Svilen Mushkatov