Nevermind the fact that Google’s GMail gives you nearly unlimited space, or the fact that you probably already have a Google login ID and password.  This new design and added functionality makes GMail even easier to use and gives you more of what you want, the ability to easily communicate with friends and colleagues.

Details on the Updates and Improvements

The brains at Google have put together a quick video to highlight the updates and improvements.  Watch or jump down below the video for a reader friendly version.

• Streamlined Conversations – Integrated profile pics  and a better layout for conversations make emails more like an ongoing chat.
• Automatic Sizing – Expand your browser to full screen or reduce it down.  GMail will keep up and automatically resize to match you preference
• HD Themes – Dark images behind your email look really sharp in the new design, so Google has given you a few choices of background images (courtesy of iStockPhoto) to liven up your screen.
• Smarter Navigation – Over on the left hand side, you’ll have more control over your email options, chat, contacts, etc.
• Better Search – For those who reference old emails regularly (like me) you’ll have more ways to track down messages using filters.

Switching to the New Look

The new look is rolling out for everyone slowly, but you can go ahead and make the switch now.  Here’s how.

1. Open you Gmail and look in the bottom right-hand corner
2. Click on the link that reads “Switch to the new look”

   

3. Follow the on-screen prompts to enable the new layout

Change Your Theme

In order to take full advantage of the new design and HD images, you should really change your theme.  Otherwise you might not see all of the possibilities of the new GMail.  Here’s how:

1. With your GMail open, look for the “gear” in the upper right-hand area (image below)
2. Select Themes
3. Look for the area labeled HD Themes and pick any of the existing options
   **Personally, I think the darkest images look best as a background image

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Preview Pane, available as an add-on feature from Gmail Labs, should probably be a standard choice for GMail users, but adding it to your account is super easy and JumpstartMyPC has the step-by-step for anyone interested in enabling this new feature.

How-To Enable Preview Pane

• Open up your browser of choice and log in to your GMail account
• In a separate tab, navigate to GMail labs (clicking on the link to the left will open a new tab automatically)
• Search for “Preview Pane”
• Under Available Labs, click on “Enable”out to the right of Preview Pane

Preview Pane can be found in Google Labs

• Save Changes and head back to your GMail tab
• In the upper-right hand corner, look for the “Use this button to toggle….” box
  **It might be necessary to refresh your GMail page in order to see the box below

Horizontal or Vertical, It's Your Choice

• Click on the drop-down arrow out to the right and choose which split-view you want to use (horizontal or vertical)
• Your new preview pane should now be visible

I Chose Horizontal for My Preview Pane

Will you use GMail’s new Preview Pane?  Do you know someone who might benefit from this new tool?  Use the buttons below to share this blog post with friends and family via Facebook, Twitter, etc.

My first thought was “this looks like XOBNI for Gmail” and, according to the comments and feedback I have read on this product, I am not alone. XOBNI is another fantastic tool, but unfortunately is only available for Outlook users, and a product that I have missed terribly since switching from Outlook to Gmail.  Both of these products make it very easy to see what social networking services your friends, family and even customers are using.

Once installed, the social networking information on the person/company that emailed you appears out to the right of an open email.  Icons (with links) are provided for services like Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, etc.  Simply click on any of these to open the profile page of that individual in a new tab.  Below the links you will find a comment area that you can use for keeping track of customers, but I am sure individuals will find some other creative and unique ideas for this space.

Installation

First of all, Rapportive is an add-on, so there isn’t the same commitment level that you might have with a full-blown program installation.  If you don’t like it, it takes just a few button clicks to disable it.  I had it up and running in less than 5 minutes, thanks to the well-thought out installation page from the Rapportive web site that includes step-by-step install instructions.

Link: http://rapportive.com/install

** One user did comment that any users of the Ad-Block Plus add-on (Firefox) might have to disable it to perform the installation of Rapportive.

After installing, you’ll just have to restart and then open an individual message (any one will do) to access the login button.  Grant permission to Rapportive to access your Gmail account and you are on your way.

Login Screen for First Time Use

Concerns

Initial concerns from most seem to be the fear that Rapportive will have access to your login credentials and/or email content.  Their FAQ page addresses this concern head-on:

“We never see your password. We use Gmail’s OpenID login system, which means only Google receives your password. All we get from Google is a token that proves you’re really you, and a few details (like your name and preferred language)… The contents of your email never leaves your browser, and we never store your emails anywhere. We’re finding peoples’ email addresses in the browser, and sending those back to our server to look them up.”

Verdict

I have only used Rapportive for a few minutes, but I am already a big fan.  There are definitely some areas for improvement, but the makers of Rapportive have provided numerous areas within the sidebar and their website for you to provide feedback.  I will be using their service and providing my ideas and concerns as time goes on and I encourage you to do the same.

I realize that many of you have already been exposed to Google Buzz, or at least heard the name, and that this article might seem a little untimely.  After all, Google Buzz was released about a month ago (February 9, 2010).  The reason I waited to comment on Google Buzz was two-fold: 1) The initial reaction to Google Buzz was panic! (early issues with privacy) and 2) I wasn’t sure if I would even use Buzz for personal and/or business updates.  Why would I review or recommend a product for the JumpstartMyPC.com audience if it (Buzz) wasn’t a useful tool that would help you get more out of your PC?  Well, I finally spent some time with this new application and I think I’ve wrapped my mind around it.

What Exactly is Google Buzz?

According to WikiPedia “Google Buzz is a social networking and messaging tool from Google, designed to integrate into the company’s web-based email program, Gmail. Users can share links, photos, videos, status messages and comments organized in “conversations” and visible in the user’s inbox.”  The definition is spot-on, but other than the Gmail integration, what makes Google Buzz any different from MySpace, Facebook or any of the other social networking sites out there?  I could post a bunch of screen-shots and commentary, but a quick video will explain Buzz much more effectively.

To me, Google Buzz is the Lite version of social networking.  Why?  Because you don’t have to spend an eternity setting it up, the feature set is very limited and (this is the best part) the distractions are minimal.

Setup

• If you have a Gmail account, you are already a Buzz user.  Just look for the link under your inbox.
• If you want to try Buzz and see what it’s all about, all you have to do is sign up for a FREE Gmail account.  **If you decide to stick around, you can import your old mail and contacts fromYahoo!, Hotmail, AOL or other webmail or POP3 accounts (which covers just about everyone).
• Add personal information or don’t!  This is entirely up to you.

Limited Features

• Post your own buzz-worthy links and photos.  Follow others to see what they post.  That’s it!  If you can copy and paste, you can use Buzz!
• There are no apps, so you don’t have to worry about joining the Mafia or taking care of your Farm-Town/Ville.

Distractions Gone

• Ads are limited to a tiny little bar at the top (almost forgot about it even being there).
• Again, no apps – meaning no games, clubs, groups, etc. to join or worry about.

The Verdict

Click Here

My overall opinion of Google Buzz is “wait-and-see.”  Google will not give up on Buzz any time soon and (as blogger Dan Sung put it) “it’s the refinements that will make it into something deeper and more diverse.”  Who knows what the future holds for Google Buzz?

However, I have some suggestions for those of you with different “backgrounds.”  Depending on your current setup (email), affiliations (other social networking sites) or tolerance level, you might want to give Buzz a chance.

Scenario 1: The Rookie

You have email and use it to communicate with a limited group of friends and family.  Either you don’t care about social networking or you are one of the “I don’t want to know what everyone is up to all the time and I don’t care to let others know what I am doing at any time” camp.

Suggestion

Google Buzz is perfect for you!  Just sign up for that FREE Gmail account and add ONLY the people that you already email.  Don’t give out this new address to anyone but those you already email.  Post away using the Private option and you won’t have to worry about anyone else seeing what you submit.  If you like it, hang around.  If not, delete the account and walk away.

Scenario 2: The Middle Man

You tried Facebook, but it wasn’t your thing.  Too much going on and you are too busy to check it all the time.  You post an update here and there, but don’t really “feel” like a Facebook person.  Twitter sounds like something only a bird would do or maybe you are just a little bit curious to see what’s going on in the Twitter world.

Suggestion

Google Buzz might be a good way to ease into sharing a bit more.  Using Gmail means that Buzz is literally one click away and (as we pointed out) there are limited distractions.  You can “follow” people or companies that you have an interest in and check your Buzz when you have time.  No pressure.  You don’t even have to post anything if you don’t want to.

Scenario 3: Social Guru

You are everywhere in the social networking world: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  You can’t get enough new information and you love the applications and “noise” of these sites.  You follow several blogs and/or have a blog of your own.

Suggestion

Buzz might be too little for your needs.  You would just be reinventing the wheel if you had to set up another profile.  However, a Buzz page would be a good way to increase your audience and spread the word about your online presence.  OK, maybe you should try it out anyway.

I did pay for one Google product and that was the G1 (Google Phone).  I was amazed at how simple it was to sync my contacts from Gmail with my address book on my phone.   The process took all of 10 seconds and I was up and running.  I had two thoughts immediately:

1. WOW!!  What a cool thing to have on my phone.
2. That really stinks for everyone else! (non-G1 owners)

For years and years, through at least 4 different cellular phones, I had gone through the tedious process of keeping all my contacts up to date and then transferring them when I bought a new phone.  This time I did not have to make that transfer.  My contacts were already in my Gmail account and all I had to do was provide a user name and password.  Boom! Everyone was there.  Better yet, I now have their phone number and email address on my phone.  Now I can call, text, email or even chat with anyone right from my phone.

What about everyone else? Until recently, I thought that G1 users were the only ones that had access to this wonderful technology.  Turns out I was wrong.  Thanks to an article on Mashable.com (we’ll touch on that in a minute) I was prompted to do some research.  I stumbled across Google Sync.  This FREE tool is available for all of the major smart phones, like the iPhone, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile devices.  There is a great video on the Google Sync site that explains it all.  If you have one of these phones, you can take your address book and your calendar with you everywhere you go without ever connecting them to your computer.  It’s completely wireless.

Google Sync

But wait, that’s not all.  Sounds like an infomercial, doesn’t it. As of this morning (October 1st, 2009), via Mashable.com, we now have real syncing of our searches as well.  Now, if I log in to Google.com on my home computer (laptop, tower, etc.) and perform any searches, those same searches will show on my mobile phone browser.  I just have to log in to Google.com there as well.  I tested it right after reading the Mashable article and it worked perfectly.  If you are interested in more about this, follow the link over to the Mashable article: http://mashable.com/2009/10/01/google-suggest-mobile/.

I’m sure there will be many more features like this in the near future.  For now, I am really excited about the ability to take my address book and searches with me everywhere I go.  Never know when I might get trapped somewhere with nothing but my phone and a few minutes to kill.  Something tells me I’m not the only one that thinks like that.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions? Leave a comment below.  And remember, if you want to share this article with friends or family you can just click on the the ShareThis button below.