This week through the kind benefaction of a Web acquaintance, I obtained a Google gmail beta account invitation, and I've been checking out how the much-hyped new Web mail service performs with Mac OS browsers. But first a few words about gmail.

Google's Gmail, still in non-public beta development, is a new kind of webmail, built on the idea that you should never have to delete mail and you should always be able to find the message you want. The key features are:

• Search, don't sort.
Use Google search to find the exact message you want, no matter when it was sent or received.

• Don't throw anything away.
1000 megabytes of free storage so you'll never need to delete another message.

• Keep it all in context.
Each message is grouped with all its replies and displayed as a conversation.

• No pop-up ads. No banners.
You see only relevant text ads and links to related web pages of interest.

Gmail is a free, search-based webmail service that includes 1,000 megabytes (1 gigabyte) of storage. The backbone of Gmail is a powerful Google search engine that quickly recalls any message an account owner has ever sent or received. That means there's no need to file messages in order to find them again.

When Gmail displays an email, it automatically shows all the replies to that email as well, so users can view a message in the context of a conversation. Grouping related messages creates meaningful 'conversations.' When you open a message in a conversation, all of your messages will be stacked neatly on top of each other, like a deck of cards. We call this 'Conversation View.' As new replies arrive, your stack of cards grows. Grouping messages this way allows you to quickly retrieve related messages and view all your messages in context.

There are no pop-ups or banner ads in Gmail, which places relevant text ads and links to related web pages adjacent to email messages.

Gmail uses Google search technology to automatically organize and find messages. And because Gmail includes 1,000 megabytes of storage, the typical user can go for years without deleting a single message. You never know when you might need a message again, but with traditional webmail services, you delete it and it's gone forever. With Gmail, you can easily archive your messages instead, so they'll still be accessible when you need them. If you decide you no longer want a message in your Inbox, just hit the 'Archive' button and the message will still be available in 'All Mail' or through a search.

Gmail's other distinctive features include a labeling system. Instead of folders, Gmail uses labels to give you the functionality of folders, but with more flexibility. In Gmail, a single conversation can have several labels, so you're not forced to choose one particular folder for each message you receive. That way, if a conversation covers more than one topic, you can retrieve it with any of the labels that you've applied to it. And, of course, you can always search for it.

There are also a spam reporter and a system for filtering your mail as it comes into your inbox. POP 3 access appears to be in the works as well, possibly as an extra-cost feature.

Gmail includes a sophisticated spam filter. The Report Spam link in Gmail is a way for users to help with this effort. It removes spam from the inbox and sends valuable data to the Gmail team working on spam blocking.

Gmail features built-in Google search, and as with Google's keyword-based web search, Gmail returns fast, accurate results. As long as you archive instead of delete, you'll be able to find any message you've ever sent or received. Having reliable search also eliminates the need to create elaborate folder structures. Now you can just stick a label (or two or three) on a conversation and search by label, keyword, date range or a host of other options.

Now, on to those browsers. Gmail currently officially supports the following:

Microsoft IE 5.5 and newer (Windows)
Netscape 7.1 and newer
Mozilla 1.4 and newer
Mozilla Firefox 0.8 and newer
Safari 1.2.1 and newer

I found that gmail worked well with Mozilla 1.7 and Safari 1.2.1.

I also tried gmail with an assortment of non-supported browsers, and found that it:

Worked fine with Shiira 0.9.2
Worked fine with Camino 0.8
Didn't work in iCab 2.9.8
Didn't work with Opera 7.5.1
Didn't work with OmniWeb beta

Curious about OS 9 access, I also checked gmail with a couple of OS 9 browsers on my WallStreet PowerBook .

I had no luck at all with Netscape 4.7, but happily Mozilla 1.2.1 seemed to work perfectly. That means that one of the WamCom upgrades of Mozilla 1.3 should be a solution for OS 9 users wanting to access gmail accounts.

As for the service itself, it seems pretty cool, the caveat for me being slow response over a poky dial-up connection. However, once the Inbox displays, response is gratifyingly quick.

No word yet on when Google will open gmail to the public.

For more information, visit:
http://gmail.google.com/