Gmail’s got a beautiful new look and you can try it NOW

Only minutes after we posted user mockups of what a redesigned Gmail might look like, Google has released a preview of what the real new Gmail will look like, including themes that you can test out today.

It’s eerie how accurate the earlier mockups were. These screenshots show a Gmail that has adopted the Google+ minimalist, orange and gray aesthetic, though it’s not an identical aesthetic — the buttons for instance are larger.

Simply go to Gmail Settings, click over to the Themes tab and select “Preview” or “Preview (Dense)” as your theme to try this yourself. Google has provided two themes because the end result is an elastic responsive design that shifts its information density to accomodate your screen size, but for now, you need to pick based on the density you prefer.

The Preview theme, which spreads information out over more space and so must be the theme designed for larger screens, spreads things out a little too much. The eye doesn’t naturally scan over emails in the inbox because the whitespace between each message is a little too big for information that is provided in only one-line increments. The spacing works for Google+ because the items are generally a paragraph or more in length.

If you flick over the Preview (Dense) you get something that’s akin to the current layout with a new skin on it, and it works. It’s still easy to scan through your inbox and pleasant to both look at and use. The only complaint I have is that the advertisements seem more prominent than before — but I’m sure ad blindness will kick in soon enough!

I’m hearing some reports that there are little spacing issues with either theme on particularly small screens, and some strangeness occurring when the window is resized from very small to wider.

Of course, this is a preview, and it’s “step one of a monster series of upgrades over the next few months” according to Jason Cornwell, who is a Googler working on the project.

After the limited launch of Google+ and updates to the designs of other Google products, Gmail had started to look rather dated (heck, I’d thought so before the new Google look started popping up), so this is a welcome development — one I’ll be adopting today.

Source: The Next Web

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Mozilla Firefox 4.0 Beta - New Look

The Mozilla Company has just released some mock-ups of the new interface of Firefox 4.0. Interesting changes have some Firefox followers excited, but modifications also have some Firefox 3.5 fans speculating doubtfully about the final product. Overall, changes made by Mozilla in any of its products are almost always anticipated by Firefox users who still believe that Firefox is the way to go in internet browsing.

Two mock-ups have been released for the perusal and critiquing of Firefox users. These mock-ups serve as a sneak preview into what to expect with Mozilla Firefox 4.0. The first version shows the classic layout of the address bar with the tabs placed beneath it.

The second version has the address bar with the tabs placed above it. Although this version seems to look cleaner and is a space-saver, the title bar is no longer. All in all, this layout allows for increased vertical space, lessened travel for the mouse pointer to reach the page controls, and enhanced efficiency by eliminating visual clutter.

However, there are also some down-sides to having the tabs above the URL bar. First, people will feel weird first using it since it is not a familiar layout; second, the title bar is gone which makes it strange to use initially; third, the travel distance for the mouse pointer to get to the tabs is much further; and last, there is little or no more space between the window widgets and the application icon.

There are also hints to Mozilla combining the stop, refresh, and go buttons into one key. The main goal of Mozilla is to make the browser more simplistic and reduce the complexity in the functions. It also aims to allow more page space for the different webpage displays to allow users to have a cleaner presentation of website layouts and information.

In general, the new layout of Firefox 4.0 is quite attractive and different. As long as functionality is not compromised (like allowing for long drop-down menus from single icons), this new streamlined look seems quite agreeable, for the time being.

Link: Mozilla Firefox Official Demo Page.

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