Gmail Facelift Promising

An "oops" from Google released a video showing a planned facelift for Gmail.  I'll embed the video, and will remove it if they ban the viewing.

It appears Google has hit pay dirt with their clean but customized interface.  Instead of catering to every request, they simply opened up every conceivable option so you have a nice, intuitive default that allows for full tweaks for those who need something special.  Monitor space is something I struggle with, so the auto-resize that you can turn off and on will be helpful.  Much like the new Google Docs look, this visually pleasant and color-coded organization really allows your eye to follow easily.  Google has mastered anti-clutter, and they really strut their stuff.  Email organization is something virtually everyone struggles with, and their solutions are open-ended.  Love it.  It looks like walking in you have a nice set of options, if you care enough to dig in and color code, label and compartmentalize you can knock yourself out and your changes can carry over to all your other Google services.

Google has redesigned one service at a time, leaving Gmail for the final update.  They are fast on the way to becoming more than just an email provider, but our portal to everything we do.  As long as privacy advocates help us watch for potential abuses, I'm all for it.  This is a new turn in a relatively new advancement for the Internet.  It's easy to forget that only 20 years ago everything we take for granted was unheard of.  Updates, improved organization, logical structure and familiarity are all important to users.  So far, Google is taking the lead.