Safari compatibility for GMail

[MacRumors]

MacCentral interviews Google co-founder Sergey Brin who promises support for Safari for Google's newest service, Gmail, before it is publicly released.

Gmail is a webmail service which allows users to keep up to 1GB of messages, allowing users to search and organize them.

While the current Beta does not officially support Safari, users have been able log in with some success.

Gmail: Screenshots

 

[the_mole1314]

From what I hear, Gmail does work on Safari. Oh well, I want it my gmail now!

 

[rhpenguin]

woohoo! Were not left out in the cold!

A very nice move by the people at google!

 

[nsb3000]

From what I hear, Gmail does work on Safari. Oh well, I want it my gmail now!

Ya, if you use the debug menu to change Safari's identification to Windows IE, it (theoretically) lets you log in. I tried this and it no longer brought up the “your browser is not supported” message. Not being one of the extra special people with an account at present, I have not been able to test it out for sure. It is good news to here that official support is coming...

 

[Gherkin]

I have a GMail account. I hope that makes some people jealous

 

[gilrain]

I'm surprised a Mac news source would miss the chance to point out that 1GB webmail already exists, and is of particular note to Mac users, since it is Mac-centric and supports Calendar publishing. In my opinion GMail is cool because of the potential for the search tie-in, not because 1GB of e-mail is particularly revolutionary, or even that desirable.

 

[nsb3000]

I have a GMail account. I hope that makes some people jealous

How did you get one?

 

[rubikcube]

I have an account and tried the debug menu trick. It lets you log in, but after that you aren't able to do anything. Your inbox will come up, but none of the links will be active. I don't understand why this level of functionality isn't available. It does work fairly well in firefox though.

 

[Rooey]

Grrr Mail

It's stuff like this that REALLY makes me mad.

What are they saying? They'll teach their monkeys how to code before they release the product?

The whole point of HTML/CSS et al was that they were an open standard, every browser can read them blah blah blah

This Micro$oft only rubbish on web sites is just damn stupid anyway - If they're not going to bother writing their sites proplery, they're not going to get my business.

*screams*

Like I said... this rubbish REALLY frustrates me.

Google - get yer act together.

 

[nsb3000]

I'm surprised a Mac news source would miss the chance to point out that 1GB webmail <a href="http://www.spymac.com">already exists</a>, and is of particular note to Mac users, since it is Mac-centric and supports Calendar publishing. In my opinion GMail is cool because of the potential for the search tie-in, not because 1GB of e-mail is particularly revolutionary, or even that desirable.

I would be surprised if Spymac is really able to keep this up. I give them credit for a smart marketing move. Matching GMail just days after google announced gave them all sorts of press coverage, including a full story on News.com, but I have my doubts about whether Spymac will be able to keep it up in the long run.

 

[Scampura]

I've got a Gmail account, too. I had iTools a couple years ago when .Mac's new webmail was being beta tested, and I really liked that webmail interface, but...

well.

There's just not much comparison at all. Gmail is the best webmail I've ever used. I wonder how many .Mac subscribers will end up migrating, tee hee. Oh, and it works just fine for me in Safari, and I haven't touched the debug menu.

 

[nsb3000]

I've got a Gmail account, too. I had iTools a couple years ago when .Mac's new webmail was being beta tested, and I really liked that webmail interface, but...

well.

There's just not much comparison at all. Gmail is the best webmail I've ever used. I wonder how many .Mac subscribers will end up migrating, tee hee. Oh, and it works just fine for me in Safari, and I haven't touched the debug menu.

This is what I have read online. You guys should check out the screen shots..there is a whole lot more to Gmail than the one gig thing.

 

[gilrain]

I would be surprised if Spymac is really able to keep this up. I give them credit for a smart marketing move. Matching GMail just days after google announced gave them all sorts of press coverage, including a full story on News.com, but I have my doubts about whether Spymac will be able to keep it up in the long run.

I don't know. I've kept all of my e-mail, including every single sent e-mail and the vast majority of received (aside from spam, of course), for the past three or so years. I'm using IMAP, so all of that is on a server. It's only about 30MB. I think that much e-mail is above average, actually. I think Spymac has the right idea, and it's the same idea casinos rely on: most users will use very little of their quota, and it's only those few outliers you have to pay off. I think they'll be able to handle it for quite some time, if not indefinitely, as long as they have proper protection against people simply using it as storage for attachments and the like.

What I like about GMail, particularly after seeing those screenshots, is that it features the same thing as Google: the joy of a simple, uncluttered, intuitive interface. Too many web interfaces are a cluster of buttons which, sure, you can learn -- but are an eyesore and a pain to deal with. I think GMail will be another win for Google: same old webmail functionality, but with Google convenience. If they allowed IMAP access, I would be slavering.

 

[Macmaniac]

Well at least they are going to support Safari, it angers me that more websites do not embrace Safari, its such a great broweser, and its pop up blocker can not be beat!

 

[TRiPod]

Check your spelling!
in the title:
*compatibility* (you forgot the 'i' )

 

[gorman]

Okay, calm down

Gmail works pretty well in Safari, but there are some quirks. Once you login and reload once, everything works. There are some random loading issues, but nothing show-stopping. I would assume that some of these problems are due to limitations in Safari, but I'm sure the next version will correct that.

Gmail is extremely well coded, and it does make use of advanced Javascript. That Javascript isn't just for cool little features either. It adds a substantial amount of functionality that actually make web-based mail usable.

To say their coders don't know what they're doing is about as far away from the truth as you can get. I've yet to see a site make such good use of Javascript, so you have to give them some credit.

Like I said though, for the most part, it works fine in Safari. I'm sure it'll work perfectly upon release. After all, there is a reason it's not public yet.

In fact, if you look at the linked screenshots, you'll see they were taken in Safari.

 

[centauratlas]

Running the latest Safari with "Automatically" chosen works for me. You have to choose "log me in anyway," but I can pull up mail, change settings etc. I am not sure where they meant it doesn't work.

You can get into the beta early if you had an active Blogger account. It doesn't work to create a new one - I wanted to get another account for a friend.

 

[1macker1]

Besides the 1G storage, what makes this the best e-mail service?

 

[nsb3000]

I don't know. I've kept all of my e-mail, including every single sent e-mail and the vast majority of received (aside from spam, of course), for the past three or so years. I'm using IMAP, so all of that is on a server. It's only about 30MB. I think that much e-mail is above average, actually. I think Spymac has the right idea, and it's the same idea casinos rely on: most users will use very little of their quota, and it's only those few outliers you have to pay off. I think they'll be able to handle it for quite some time, if not indefinitely, as long as they have proper protection against people simply using it as storage for attachments and the like.

I suppose you are right on this point. And as time goes on, and email storage use goes up, hard drive prices will go down....

What I like about GMail, particularly after seeing those screenshots, is that it features the same thing as Google: the joy of a simple, uncluttered, intuitive interface. Too many web interfaces are a cluster of buttons which, sure, you can learn -- but are an eyesore and a pain to deal with. I think GMail will be another win for Google: same old webmail functionality, but with Google convenience. If they allowed IMAP access, I would be slavering.

This is true. Gmail looks pretty neat. I don't think it looks good enough to abandon mail, or any full featured standalone email software, but it is the first thing I have looked at that has me reconsidering my normal aversion to web mail. While we are on the subject, let me use this opportunity to plug Fastmail , which allows free imap access, and all sorts of other advanced features. I have been using them for over a year now, and have nothing but positive things to say about the experience.

 

[Koodauw]

This is good news. Hopefully other companies can follow suit. I can't wait to sign up.

 

[123]

Personally, I think web mailers are for losers. And I don't know why google should be able to change that. I couldn't care less if the interface of existing web interfaces are a "cluster of buttons" if I don't have to use them more than a couple of times a year. Unless you plan to become a google share holder in the future I really don't understand why this whole thing should be relevant to anybody except idiots.

edit: of course the news bit itself is relevant since it strengthens the Mac platform which is always good even if the service is idiotic.

 

[silvergunuk]

Dave Gorman Collection

Funny thing about this story when I clicked on the link is that the guys name is David (Dave) Gorman and there is a English comedian called dave Gorman who did a show a few years back called the dave gorman collection. What it is, he basically bet his friend that he could find a dave or david gorman for every card in a deck of playing cards (including the jokers). He traveled the world looking for dave gormans. He turns upto their homes, chats to them briefly, takes a photo with them and they sign it from dave gorman to dave gorman. Check out his website. Wonder if any other uk members from this forum ever watched this show.

http://www.davegorman.com/dgcollection/collection.html

 

[RIP]

Wow!!!!

This looks just like a web based email application complete with privacy issues.

Looks like a great account to use for my spam account. I'm not the least bit excited by this. I'm a freedom loving person and when I ask myself how Google can get away with giving a gig of storage space out, I get the heebie-jeebies.

Sure, I use Google for my search engine, and with that they can get my IP, computer, and browser info, but that is about it unless they get a warrant.

This Gmail however, they will know a lot about me and the contents of my email. That is a bit more than I am willing to give, and a gig of storage doesn't justify that. Now, if they paid me for using their app, maybe I would think twice, but even then I probably wouldn't do it. It's just too against my principles.

I'm sure for a million people or more, they will be happy with it.

 

[TheT]

To those who already have it: You all say that the infertace is so great and easy and...
Well, I don't think it will be better the Mail.app. But why is it better than i.e. .Mac webmail (yes, besides that it's free)? I don't see any "hard" part in using that...

 

[gilrain]

To those who already have it: You all say that the infertace is so great and easy and...
Well, I don't think it will be better the Mail.app. But why is it better than i.e. .Mac webmail (yes, besides that it's free)? I don't see any "hard" part in using that...

I'm not sure you can say "besides that it's free" when that is almost the whole point. .Mac is a cool service because of iSync, easy hosting, and integration. Aside from that, it's not really worth the money: there are much cheaper ways to get the same features. I'm not dissing .Mac, I'm just saying it's not competing with GMail or other free services.

Also, I think most people have several e-mail accounts. I imagine quite a few .Mac members will maintain accounts with both services.