This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Web Buzz by Josh Baltzell. Original Post: Why I Love GMail (No you can't have an invite) Feed Title: ShortDomainName.com Feed URL: http://www.contegix.com/Rss.aspx Feed Description: Weblog of Josh Baltzell. Focusing on the computer industry and .NET programming related news. I like to get involved on the discussions wherever they are. Latest Web Buzz Posts Latest Web Buzz Posts by Josh Baltzell Latest Posts From ShortDomainName.com

I was just posting in my comments section the reasons why I continue to use GMail wheil the competition is stiff from companies like Yahoo! and the upcoming update to Hotmail.  Hotmail could draw me back in if they do a really great job upgrading, but I am doubting it.  So here is the list of reasons why I love GMail.

1. The Newest contact system update allows me to add any amount of information to each contact by allowing me to add additional fields as I see fit.
2. Solid searching system let's me find what I am looking for as fast or faster than a desktop application.
3. POP access allows you to access your mail how you want and with whatever client you want while still keeping everything on the web.
4. Archiving instead of deleting let's me stop worrying about deleting things that are not crucial to keep, but are nice to have.
5. Great web interface includes autocomplete for email recipients I have sent email to or gotten email from in the past.  As a web developer I can appriciate the level of complexity in the client side portion of the code.  It all works very seamlessly.
6. Fast loading pages are a big improvement over other rich interface web email systems like hotmail.  The site actually lets you know what it is doing by putting a small notification in the corner that says “Loading“ or “Sending“.
7. External links open in a regular browser instead of the half broken hotmail style frame.
8. All email shows only the text unless I ask it to show the images.
9. Spam filter that seems to work just as well or better than Hotmail.
10. Putting multiple labels on messages allows me to find what I am looking for easier.
11. Rules for incoming mail allows me to rarely have to hand label an email.
12. GMail notifier gives me simple notice when I have new mail and works in the simplest way possible.
13. And finally I like Gmail because I get the feeling that the developers working on it are actually giving the users what they are asking for instead of just more features to make us look at the ads.