gmail for domains
Well, I got accepted to the gMail for domains beta test. I’m so excited…yes, the MX records were changed. Don’t get me wrong, I have a hosting company, and we have a 100% network uptime. So, please don’t think this is a reflection on that. I pretty much only use webmail with faithstorm, and the choices for “nice/clean/stable” webmail clients suck…the only 3 that I think are worth mentioning are:
1. Squirelmail (while rock solid) is lacking in the UI department something fierce. As Alex says “It needs more Cowbell”[?]
2. IMP (again, rock solid) is painful to install…interface is better than #1…but still not gmail
3. The newcomer roundcube, while they have a really slick AJAX interface, it is still at 0.1 status…and development seems to be waining. So, I have serious stability concerns.
Anyway, I love the gMail interface for many, many reasons. So, when I saw the chance to signup for the beta test I jumped at it for faithstorm (again not, my “work”, just for my “personal” account). If you have used gMail then you are familiar with the interface. Here is a list of things that I noticed:
1. The sytem let me have 10 accounts for “free” (no way I can find to upgrade).
2. The accounts created seem to be locked to 2048 MB (2 GB) each (whereas “regular” gMail accounts keep growing).
There aren’t a lot of “management” features…just the basics: add/edit/delete accounts, check quota usage, and change passwords. You can upload your own logo, but other than that there is not much else. I imagine they will add things at some point, but I mean what more is there other than customizing the interface more (I wouldn’t do it, but there are those who would).
So, as you can see…it’s gMail for your domain…which is cool.
I guess the big question is if gMail starts charging will people buy it (note above, the “10 accounts for free”). I don’t know about other people, but for me…probably not. I have my own server, and there is not just a lot of value add as this point to justify “buying” an account (if it comes to that…which it might). If it is free then I will use it for personal ONLY (I don’t want them going through and “indexing” my private business stuff).