I was going to write a short entry here in which I mention an update that I made to a Greasemonkey script that I wrote that works with Gmail. The update to this script that redirects the user from the newer version of Gmail to the older one was released two days ago. I am writing about this update this long after its release, as I considered it much more important to write the updated version of this script than the blog post associated with this update. I have found that the script works more reliably now, although that may not matter as much to those who have used it. It was as I was writing this post that the new version of Gmail, often referred to as Gmail 2.0, had updates made to it that should make more Gmail users prefer using the newer version to the older one. Much is being said about the new feature that enables a user to add colour codes to labels, which is a feature that can be considered a more user-friendly version of a feature that was previously only available via this Greasemonkey script. However, perhaps more importantly, Gmail 2.0 no longer seems to run as slowly as it did.
Many of the blogs that would be expected to have entries informing its readers of these changes have reported these updates that have been made to Gmail. In addition to this news being posted on the Official Gmail Blog, information on these updates has been posted on Lifehacker, and on Google Operating System. It was the post on Google Operating System in which it was said that Gmail “doesn’t cache messages so aggressively” anymore. And it certainly was quite important that this change was made to message caching, as this caching was apparently what caused Gmail to run slowly. If the feature that enabled users to add colours to labels were the only one added to Gmail, then this upgrade may have been considered equivalent to giving a car with engine problems a new paint job. There are those who may like having improved versions of features available via Greasemonkey scripts added to Gmail, but it was more important for the Gmail team to focus on the main issue that many users had with it.
Gmail may be considered by many to be the best web-based e-mail service currently available. However, there will continue to be changes made to it in attempts to improve it. In fact, it seems that another feature that may be inspired by a Greasemonkey script may be on its way. According to what was written in the post by Dave Cohen on the Official Gmail Blog, “work to add some folder-y-ish functionality” is being done by those working on Gmail. And so it seems that the next Greasemonkey script for Gmail to be made redundant by new Gmail features is the one known as Folders4Gmail.
Perhaps features we will see in Gmail in the future will be based on scripts that I mentioned in my last entry here. As you can see, one of these scripts has been rendered redundant, and another mentioned there may be considered unnecessary soon. And maybe a few new features will be based on those that can be used when one has the Better Gmail or Better Gmail 2 extensions installed on Firefox. According to some comments that I have read, not everyone seems to be pleased with the new features available in this new version of Gmail. However, there will be improvements made to it that could make more of its users prefer using the newer version. And so hopefully in the future, it is this script for redirection to the older version that I have updated that will be considered redundant.
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