Google Releases Gmail Notifier

Philipp Lenssen writes "After several unofficial, screen-scraping Gmail utilities, Google now released the official Gmail Notifier (Beta) for Windows. It will sit in the Windows tray, alerting you of new emails in your account (if you are lucky enough to have one already). Additionally, the Gmail Notifier can connect 'mailto:'-links in web pages to Gmail."

Comments

this is awesome

[m2bord]

this is just one of the tools i've been waiting for. now if only gmail could have a "save as draft" feature...i can switch from my current webmail provider to gmail.

Re:this is awesome

[periol]

right. like all those times when gmail is down.

if the service goes down for a bit, fine. don't make me leave stuff running on my computer until gmail comes back up so i don't lose emails. until there's a 'save as draft' feature or gmail NEVER goes down, it just won't cut it.

Why not a small Java app?

[tliet]

I mean, come on, Win32 only?

Re:Why not a small Java app?

[random_culchie]

I don't know why the parent was marked a troll because its a valid question.

The fact is for close integration with the operating system (like putting stuff in the tray in windows) is impossible to do with out using API's that break portability.

If you break portability what the point in doing it in java the first place?

Re:Why not a small Java app?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because there is no such thing a a SMALL java app. They are all huge - thanks to the JRE.

No point?

[grub]

I keep my browser open all the time (including a tab to gmail) and it refreshes automatically. I don't see the benefit, unless having Yet More processes running is a good thing.

Re:No point?

[slungsolow]

I would rather have a process running in the background that takes up less memory than a browser window. There are always instances when I need to keep my memory management in mind, and a tool like this makes it easier to do that.

This makes GMail 2x better

[six11]

This is great! I know people who have been holding back on using GMail because of the notification thing. I sometimes still get email at my Yahoo account, and I am notified when I receive them. Every time the Yahoo notification thing pops up I am reminded of how almost-but-not-quite perfect GMail is. This little icon in the tray will end up being a bigger deal than it looks.

I've installed it and it works great. It uses the same slide-up text bubble idiom that AIM and Yahoo and Thunderbird use. But the bubble not only tells you that you have mail but also who it is from and if there is room, the first part of the text of the email. If you missed it, you can right click and select 'Tell me again...' and it will scroll through all your unread emails, so you can get a quick overview of what's going on in your Inbox right now without having to use your browser. Much nicer.

Maybe it's me, maybe it's not

[fiftyvolts]

I don't understand why we are jumping through hoops to have auto refresing JavaScript-full convoluted html webmail that interacts with some little utility in your tray. I mean, I understand the convenience of webmail, but I think that installing this is whre I would draw the line between simple & easy and flakey & klunky.

Isn't 100% easier and more smooth to interact with POP3 and your favorite email software? Maybe it's just me. I've been using a hosting service for my website and email and I guess having that much control over the set up and delivery methods has made me skeptical of free webmail in general.

Re:Maybe it's me, maybe it's not

[mcc]

Isn't 100% easier and more smooth to interact with POP3 and your favorite email software?

I think the idea is your favorite email software isn't available everywhere. If you're ever using a computer other than your home desktop, and you want to read your email, you don't have the option of launching up whatever email client you like-- because the computer won't have it. Probably there will just be just Outlook Express, and you'll have to set up a user and configure your servers or whatnot. Not fun. It's much easier to have the option of just going to a website and checking your email, and once you start using this option you'll tend to want to use this website even when you get home-- even though at home you are actually free to run whatever your favorite email program-- because it's pleasant to have a single consistent interface every single time that you check your email, whereever in the world you are.

Of course, I don't use GMail, but the above logic is why even at home on my mac, I pretty much always check my email by sshing into a remote shell and using this command line mail program I sort of like. Ssh is pretty much available everywhere, and unlike webpages all ssh clients are actually compliant with one another...

Re:How long....

[the unbeliever]

They've said that about Google Toolbar for about a year now, too.

The iTunes model

[mcc]

What I find increasingly interesting is how Microsoft's competitors-- now that it's been made clear that united states antitrust law is not going to be enforced-- are trying to get around the Microsoft OS monopoly with what amounts to shareware. Microsoft has the power to create the default configuration for the vast majority of PCs, and since traditionally few users have stepped away from the default configuration this means Microsoft has the ability to dictate many things, from what formats will gain popularity to what web standards succeed or fail. If Microsoft desires, it can install a piece of software on every new copy of Windows in the world. Those companies that are not Microsoft do not have this luxury. Some of them now appear to be circumventing this by just trying to create random pieces of "must-have" software for free and bundling the service or format that they are actually making their money from with it.

For example, iTunes. Apple needs people to have support for Quicktime; however, they have no way of making Windows users want to install Quicktime. Webpages that require Quicktime will, of course, force you to download it, but such pages would seem likely to become scarce as webmasters realize that every computer has WMP already and using WMP instead of Quicktime will not require their users to download a plugin. Apple's solution is to create a music player program for Windows that is considered by many to be the best there is, which everybody then wants to download and try out. As a process of doing this, these people inadvertently wind up installing Quicktime. End result: every computer has Quicktime already.

Google here is just another example. Google appears to be anticipating that at some point Microsoft will start using its space within the desktop to promote some engine of its own and dissuade the use of Google. Google is reacting to this by trying to get a toehold into the desktop of their own, using things such as the Google Toolbar and now, the GMail notifier. Both of these things will be installed by users for purposes largely irrelivant to Google's search-- the former for popup blocking, the latter for mail-- yet doing this means that Google builds up inertia with everyone who "just has" to download their Google tools after every system upgrade. This means that when the system update comes where Microsoft decides that every time you accidentally control-click on a word displayed on the screen it will open up Internet Explorer and search for it in MSN Search, Google can use their toehold in the desktop to undo this change and replace it with something (1) useful and (2) involving google search.

This approach hits Microsoft hard where it hurts; Microsoft is excellent at creating software. However, historically they have by and large failed at creating good software. Microsoft's strategy of destroying competitors by bundling their own special brand of mediocre with roughly equivilent functionality for "free" with the OS doesn't work anymore once people start to wind up downloading the software of Microsoft's competitors free just because it's better.

Why such a big fuss?

[manavendra]

Isnt this kind of notifier common with other email service providers (yahoo and hotmail)?! So what makes it so special?

And with other email service providers beefing up the storage space, one would have thought this pre-occupation with a gigabyte email-storage would be over!

Re:Google being evil already?

[Anonymous Coward]

Cognitive Dissonance. Need I say more?

Except for one big annoyance

[Morphix84]

If you click on a mailto hyperlink, while it brings you to the gmail site and creates the appropriate template, it doesn't log you in automatically (and since the toolbar has your uid and password, it should). Definately want to be able to save local too.

Re:new mail notification sound

[kkovach]

This is because this utility isn't so much an email import tool, as it is an email forwarding tool.

- Kevin

Re:This is awesome! This sucks!

[Randolpho]

Actually, it's quite impossible to install it on Windows ME -- the installer is OS aware.

I suppose I could install it on my XP box and copy the files and registry keys....