Gmail New Look?

{ 342 Responses }

1. daid says:
   I'm sick of "googling" how to leave feedback. This new compose makes me want to kill myself. It's like a chat now?! I've only stuck with gmail because of the translation features, but this is pushing me over the edge right about....now
2. teresa says:
   I HATE HATE HATE the new gmail. The company may like it but I hate it and not just a little. I am so sick of people deciding for the public and just doing it.
3. Jackie Allen says:
   I hate what has happened to google and gmail. For a long time I have tried to adjust to the changes and the new look. I can't read the black tool bar...and the space between the emails in the inbox page drives me nuts...I am going to go to Yahoo mail...forever.
4. Mattie says:
   The new look sucks. I can't reply or forward my emails. I HATE IT It's wasting my time and data
5. Dustin says:
   I am used to the new gmail. It looks fine, it works fine for me. I'm totally over the switch. Thanks gmail! It looks like I am in the minority here. no big whoop.
6. M S says:
   What the hell is going on with gmail. I can SIMPLY find help. What I'm asking about this time is" were is the black bar that has youtube, among other things in it, that I can click on to get to fast? I don't get it. Are google staff trying to creat stuff just to justify their existence?
7. BJ says:
   I can't say I like it either - I've actually stopped using Google products since they have made so many un-user friendly changes. Gmail on a netbook is worthless.
8. Kathleen says:
   Bring back the old look - it was (as one comment above said) nearly perfect. Why did you mess with a good thing? Is it change for change sake? I have not spoken with one person who likes this interface.
9. Baker says:
   I've been watching this and another "GMail new name" comment site for months. Overwhelming negativity on both sites yet I have not seen ONE SINGLE comment or response from the dictators. Oh, wait, I did see one from Jeremy several months ago that went something like; "live with it!"
10. John Davison says:
    Apart from a couple of glitches on Contacts, which I tried to point out to Google a zillion times, even tracking them down in London and sending them a letter - did they acknowledge it? what do you think? - the old look was nigh on perfect. Hello, Google - it was NIGH ON PERFECT. Every time Google invited us to comment on the New Look I dutifully wrote back and told them the truth - everything about it sucks. Everything. My gmail's latest hobby is to alleviate its boredom with its own look by automatically sending me to Google Documents every time I log in. And don't get me started on those schtoopid graphics. The damnable thing is that I hate Yahoo and Hotmail even more, so where the hell do we go next? Any psychologists out there who can explain to me why Google went ahead destroying a pefectly good product, in spite of the chorus of opposition? Do they think we are all kids who don't understand what is good for us? ***!!!@@!!!
11. Kelly Culbertson says:
    I hate it. Hate it so much, I'm seriously considering moving, migrating, ditching all the archived e-mails and ordering new business cards. This is a ridiculous "improvement." It's slow, it's buggy, it's UGLY. The "themes" do not improve things, at all, they're just a new flavor of ugly, and seem to add some more Slow, too. Way to regress, and stoke the ire of your followers!
12. Hawgwash says:
    Ok, so I'll repeat myself a bit. I am an original Gmail user, going back to '04 when we were given 10 invites to pass around. I am a loyal type guy, almost to a fault, with the same cell provider since 1985, same whiskey since 1963 and the same woman since...well, never mind, you get the idea. Anyway, I have, for 8 years spoken of Gmail with pride and told all who would ask or listen how much I liked it. Used to be a time when people would say "I see you use Gmail too" like we belonged to some special group. We felt that way too and like any good cult member, preached to the masses. Bottom line? Would I recommend Gmail to anyone today? NO!!! With 350 million users, does Gmail care? NO!!! Thanks for the bullying Google.
13. CB says:
    What idiot was it at Google who decided that it was a good idea to go ahead with the new look even after it was obvious that no one - NO ONE AT ALL - liked it? I mean just look at the comments on this page. What is wrong with you people at Google? Like others, I am now currently shopping for another e-mail service provider. Pain in the a*& especially with haviing to reset all my contacts, but less pain than having to deal with the new Gmail.
    • Peggy Kidd says:
      Give me back my old email, please.. I can not even receive or see email anymore-HELP
14. Raghavendra says:
    then using new gmail , It's better to transfer (Reroute) all incoming mails to Yahoo Mail. and use Yahoo, I hate gmail new look. it sucks.
15. Raghavendra says:
    Gmail New look is worst worst worst that's what i can say ,,,, Chat room is not comfortable ,,,, I hate to use gmail ,,, down down new gmail
16. Dalguy says:
    The new look totally sucks. Get rid of the friggin' yellow flags. Stop all the pop up menus. Give us words not horrible graphics. To get out of Contacts you have to click on Gmail. To get into Contacts, you have to click on Gmail. And why do they try to trap you in full screen? And just try to get real help out of their hopeless HELP!
17. Nick Simmons says:
    HAS GOOGLE LOST ITS CHARMED TOUCH AND GONE CRAZY???????????? The New Gmail Interface Totally Sucks! It's not a question of getting used to it, IT'S TERRIBLE: It's too pale, no contrast. You can't tell where an email ends and what you're answering. It's not compact enough even on the compact setting. There are no buttons to go to the next or prior webclip. The look and feel is terrible. If I wanted to use something as bad as Yahoo I'd sign up with Yahoo. What is it with giving no choice to people? Why not let the people who want to use the old interface, do so? HAS GOOGLE LOST ITS CHARMED TOUCH AND GONE CRAZY????????????
18. newlooksucks says:
    please fire Jason. The new look is the milestone of suckness in email history.
19. Kris says:
    I don't fancy the new look either, at all. What a pity that we are "pushed" this way into spending our time searching for other e-mail services. I doubt that Gmail did this on purpose, I am pretty sure they are becoming quite aware of the complaints. Perhaps there is some other dilemma they are facing that we're not aware of. Other than that, I don't see any reason for why they would KEEP the new, unpopular look.
    • John Davison says:
      The dilemma is that they have a huge number of employees called the Innovations Dept which to justify its existence thinks it has to keep changing the original product. Wrong. The job of an Innovations Dept is to introduce new products alongside the existing successful product. Microsoft suffers from the same delusion.
20. Thomas says:
    Its dreadfull i have not got the time to spend altering things but the old look was much better
21. gilads says:
    I HATE THE NEW GMAIL LOOK! did anyone try contacting google on the phone and telling them what you think about their new look. In Israel they don't publish their phone number and they hide out from their customers. GOOGLE ARE AFRAID FROM THE PUBLIC!!!! PUBLISH YOUR PHONE NUMBERS AND LET THE CUSTOMERS TALK TO YOU AND LISTEN TO US! Personaly I opend an email acount on windowslive since they changed to the new look. Gilad - Israel
22. AstroPeg says:
    Successfully revert back to the old look: http://qwerjk.com/revert-gmail
23. Gloria Brayshaw says:
    I really hate the new look. Not only is it ugly (really) but the colors, font type and size, background and set up make it painful on the eyes and traveling though the page is ackward! Why no choice between the old and the new?
24. Someone says:
    The new look is a COMPLETE **** ! Google are begin RETARDED with this one! Let's boycot this **** GMAIL !
25. James says:
    Finally got forced to that godawful new look after months of Google nagging me to change. Is Google's new motto "If it ain't broke, fix it until it is"? The new interface is hideous and clunky, clashing colors, low contrast, and somehow everything seems to take up far more screen space even set to compact. I loved the clean, simple classic Gmail interface, it's the main reason I used Gmail in the first place, now I'm actively looking for a new email provider.
26. laurie says:
    Wow. You guys at GMAIL SUCK. All these NEGATIVE comments. And yet you FORCE your plans on us anyway. And here I am, the poor dumb blond with THREE gmail accounts... and it is true: you DON'T give a rat's ass that I have REPEATEDLY POSTED NEGATIVE FEEDBACK and clicked the 'REVERT TO OLD LOOK' for the last several months in a vain attempt to tell you that this SUCKS. YOU SUCK. I CAN'T BELIEVE that you are so vain nor so vulgar as to proceed. And yet you will- and my only hope is that in the end it will cause you great grave financial loss. That is my hope.
27. BAKER says:
    F#$% THE NEW LOOK TAKE THE HINT AND FIX IT NOW!!!!!!!!
28. Pam says:
    Add me to the list of people who can't stand the new gmail look - it's really hard o the eyes.
29. Hawgwash says:
    Let's all try this... Click settings, then "report a bug." Keep it simple like old gmail look is missing...stuff like that. Overload their bug fixers with useless emails.
    • Darren says:
      That should be fun, just keep sending bug reports. In the mean time for ease of use you can switch to HTML only, best if your only function is to read emails with no junk around.
30. Didi says:
    I HATE the new look!!!! There must be a way to get the old look back for all of us who feel treated like an infant! This is the country that gives up personal freedom inch by inch -- like in George Orwell's "1984"! If anyone has found a trick to go back to the old look, PLEASE email me! Jason and his team are pigs, traitors!
    • SERGE says:
      Hi! I hate this new greyish lifeless g-mail format. The old style was A1, easy to go about, in other words, very convivial. Unfortunetly some Jackass can't understand that when something runs fine, it is a don't touch item. With this in mind, I am dropping G-mail for an other site and I think I am not the only one to do that.
31. Peacelover says:
    FACTS ► ● New look is hard to look, read, click everything ● New look is looks like an aged mail ● New look hated by 97% GMAIL users and many of them sign up for a new email services. The remaining 3% are: - 1% like ( poor happy users) - 1% no comment (undecided or feel not need to) - 1% don't care (don't give a shit) Overall ...... ● New look hurt us.
32. Hanks says:
    The new look really sucks. I hate the new look. Hate hate hate hate!! it wasts a lot of time to read emails. It time to use another email instead of Gmail.
33. battleship says:
    Really having trouble with the new look. I've been researching it extensively, and as far as I can tell, most of the actions and information I used to have available at zero or one click is now only available at two clicks. With the amount of time I need to spend going over email each day, I'm estimating this will add about an hour to my workday. I would switch to a different client, but unfortunately I haven't found any client as efficient for doing the work I need to do as gmail.
34. Mauricio says:
    This new look is horrible. Only a *** draw a practical layout of these and find it better than the old. How much incompetence. And Google still requires the User to accept this waste.
35. Jim Harlacher says:
    Did some high up in the Google world work for Coke in their past life? Change the recipe, people will love it. All of a sudden every started drinking Pepsi. Get the message Google!!
36. Hawgwash says:
    ROTFLMAO! Reading the comments posted over the past 4 or 5 days, I thought I had gone back in time. These same comments began appearing last fall when the new look was introduced. Obviously the Gmail people don't give a rats ass about customer satisfaction and are too arrogant or dictatorial to admit they made a mistake. Since I first commented and expressed my displeasure back in Nov/Dec, I have been contemplating moving to a smart phone. I have come to think that mail service should be a consideration when chosing an OS. Therefore not only do I now consider dropping Gmail, I am seriously thinking about staying away from Android.
37. Stephen Booher says:
    I hate the new Gmail with the scrolling bar. I like the old Gmail. If you needed to improve anything it should have included a way to sort email by Name, Subject or Date. That would have been an improvement but this new look you have now is not at all appreciated.
38. Beth says:
    Now that the "new look" is mandatory as of April 17,2012, I cannot read half of the information on my screen. I open an email and can see that there is more to it but can't scroll down. Don't like the new look at all. My solution - forward all my gmail messages to my Yahoo account. Fix Gmail - it slows everything down!
39. dann says:
    HATE. Usability fail for many reasons, mostly because of how the mail panel now scrolls in its own frame, so all that google crap stays put at the top of the page. Been using gmail since it started, and have never once clicked ANY of those links. Used to be that the whole page scrolled and the mail "controls" moved with you. Much more usable. Here's the best thing: a colleagues gmail has no images. At all. No icons on buttons, no stars, no drag handles, even the google logo is missing. Excuse me, but wtf. HATE!!!
    • Michell says:
      Hate the layout and look. It is very, very difficult to read and preview emails. Go back to the old look!!!!
40. PifouGlop says:
    Wtf with that new look ? Now... this remind me they did quite the same with Youtube. The difference is I didn't care much about Youtube, since I don't use it everyday. But on GMail... what damn pain ! Let s the choice to revert to the old, efficient look, ffs...
41. Chris Roden says:
    This new look is awful. Why don't you create a new theme called "OLD GMAIL". Seriously, take the feedback and give us back the option to stick with the old look and feel. NOW!!!!!
42. John Warner says:
    Add one more vote to "HATE the new look." At least give us the option to keep the old look, Google!
43. pjcamp says:
    Themes suck. Oh GOD do they suck. Did you hire the Windows 95 theme designer to do these? Colors are awful and don't go together, most of them make it hard to read text, none of them can be changed in any way. Making gmail less readable is a major step backwards.
44. George Rokkas says:
    Pay some more money to Old designer that you already fired!! and let ur use the Look of gmail that Firstly brought us to You ! If you feel Bored and like to "improve" something START MAKING CARS PRODUCTION !! LEAVE THE OLD LOOK OF OUR GMAIL ALONE !!
45. A.R. says:
    dislike dislike dislike. . My eyes are not comfortable with this new look, please give us the option of new and old look, I would surely prefer old look. . .
46. Stephen Marshall says:
    I hate the new look!, and google forcing users to use it
47. Kent says:
    I must have a setting wrong. I am not normally a complainer or opposed to change, but this new "look" is TERRIBLE. I can hardly see some of the commands and it is much harder to use. What was Google thinking?
48. Totchos says:
    Telling everyone to start using my Hotmail account. We've been able to use the new or old look as we saw fit for months now, not sure why that couldn't be continued. I suppose it's punishment for not using Google+. They can have their 820Mb of hard drive space back.
49. mike Roberts says:
    What happened to the reply & forward button in the new look of g-mail. I thought this was supposed to be better than the old one, Not in my book, bring the old look back!!!!!!!
    • Patricia says:
      Love the way gmail functions now. Don't need or like the new look.
50. Brian says:
    I don't like the new look. The current one is perfectly functional and has nothing wrong with it. Most importantly, I'm familiar and comfortable with it, and I don't care to spend time and patience learning something that's completely unnecessary. If other people want it fine. If Google insists on migrating me to it, I'm going to begin looking for email service elsewhere.
51. JM says:
    The new interface is ugly and more difficult to use than the old look. What, exactly, is google "fixing" with this? Couldn't you add "profile pictures" and "high-res backgrounds" without breaking the email part of gmail? No one uses gmail because they want garbage like that. They use it because they like the simplicity and functionality of gmail. Now that google is taking that away, what email do you suggest we use?
52. James says:
    New look is HORRIBLE, can't stand it. Every few weeks it seems to switch to it and I have to "temporarily" switch it back. Google is completely out of touch with what users want. I'm gradually shifting things over to GMX and will dump gmail completely when the switch becomes mandatory.
53. Val N says:
    The "new look" is slow like hell. It keeps suggesting me to remove gmail/google from backward-compatibility-view list of IE. Well -- NOTHING IS LISTED THERE. Will try Mozilla but i have little hope for that. Besides I find the new look is sux; I liked old simple stuff -- GIVE IT BACK!!!!!
54. kris says:
    I have the new look, it's horrible. The software engineers at google need to go back to school and take some lessons in how to creat a good GUI. Google if you're reading this STOP STUFFING UP SH@#$ and leave well enough alone ... PLEASE!!!
55. Duke says:
    It blows. LEAVE IT THE HELL ALONE
56. Cavedog says:
    I have been one of the biggest fans of Google in the past. I am constantly saying how Google is so much better than Apple products. I will have to say, I may have to change my tune. I hate the new Gmail look and I hate to think I will have to go back to Yahoo or hotMail or some other service. But if I can't get back to the Gmail I love, I will have to look at these other services.
57. Eddie says:
    Switching back to hotmail or yahoo the second the new look is permanent... I don't know why you would not allow the choice for the old look and new look.
58. Arrogant says:
    Google won't change it back, because then their arrogant 'designers' would have to admit they are WRONG, and they would rather the entire company collapsed, than do that. This is ALL about ego. The sort of idiots who designed this monstrosity are the same sort of *** who won't listen to what their users say, won't ask them BEFORE changing the design, and will refuse to admit they are wrong - hence, they won't simply give us the choice to stick with the old GMail. You know, the one that works perfectly, is designed the way MOST people like it, and that DIDN'T NEED CHANGING IN THE FIRST PLACE. So is Google going to FIRE the *** behind this, since they have overwhelmingly proved that they are not competent to do their jobs? *** comment has been edited by editor.
    • Khodam says:
      "Google won’t change it back, because then their arrogant ‘designers’ would have to admit they are WRONG" YES...YES...and YES!!! This comment is GOLD!! What did you think "loyal gmail user"? you really think a team of over-paid Designers, Engineers, Marketers are going to ADMIT they got it totally WRONG? what do you expet them to say to their Bosses? that screwed up millions of dollars of the re-design project? I am a tech-savvy person and still find the new look Miserable... Just read ANY Comment which is written by someone "who is NOT paid to write", and you will see what people think!! I feel VERY bad that I encouraged so many people to switch to gmail...I am going BACK to the Yahoo!! Yahoo new look is MUCH BETTER!!!
59. Jonathan says:
    I much prefer the old look, it works much better on smaller screens, and its much easier to see whats going on the new look is basically an unstructured mess. I have switched to it several times to see if I'll adjust to it, but to be honest its so crap I end up back switching back before long. Not a good move google....
60. Rudy Krutar says:
    The minor improvements in the new look are not worth the time required to master them, and I REJECT them. Fortunately, my email address is not specific to gmail, but resolves to whatever mail handler I choose. Please do not make me go through the effort of making that change.
61. Brian says:
    I would rather saw off my balls with a rusty chainsaw than use their new look. Google should take this as the general consensus.
62. terence says:
    I'm sure it's been said over and over, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The new look to google is an eyesore. Right now we have nice look that is easy to read and not too busy. The new look replaces words with stupid icons and it may not be but it just looks whiter and hurts the eyes. Youtube's new look sucks too. Who's idea was it to complicate these pages anyway?
63. Mike Finch says:
    Google: I understand that you think you know what's best for us - but sometimes - it might be important to listen to "us" , tone down the attitude a bit. It's clear that a majority of gmail users do not want a new look - you keep throwing it at us - we keep writing emails like this one. If the team can't come up with something that we like - why not fire them as they are clearly out of touch. You have the internal survey results for this change based on the number of rejections from gmail users - look at the data!
64. Bernie Weinert says:
    Give me the old google and leave it be.
65. James Campbell says:
    "simplicity of use" ... !! I only wish it merited this description. Of course some people will love the 'New' look, just as there are those who do not give a thought to disabled users, for whom the 'New' look is a disaster. Both visually impaired users and those who (like myself) use a switch system are seriously affected. I cannot understand the need for these changes. If change is really necessary, we are not being told why. Also difficult to understand is why, with all their resources, Google could not allocate the task to someone who knows something about good web page design for ALL users.
66. max says:
    Its only now we begin to assess the scale of horrible management at Google. Taking such stupid irreversible decisions without any reliable surveys! They made up statistics to approve mistaken decisions of certain managers and ignore massive negative feedback. With such management competitors get a lot of space for maneuvers! Hotmail we're waiting for you!
67. Lawson says:
    Where is the improvement? I hate it.
68. pluto says:
    NEw G-mail Look is really horrible!!!!
    • carolann carter says:
      i agree 100 %. please, please let me keep the old look.
69. Mulqmrksnd says:
    Note to Gmail in reference to the new look that I'm sure you put a lot of energy into: it's Windows Vista. Lose it now, or lose it later, when the damage has been done.
70. Surfer says:
    Since I'm not illiterate, is there a way to put words back on the toolbar?
71. hello says:
    The new look of gmail is so UGLY, totally. I'll take a migration to another mail provider, sorry.
72. Giuliano Procida says:
    As others have pointed out, the lack of contrast and the lack of text on various controls make this a much harder interface to use. My eyesight is fair, but this is going to be really bad for many people. The layout changes waste space as well which is especially bad when using a laptop. I had to turn it off after a day of use. I do worry the upgrade will be mandatory in which case, I suspect it will be only a matter of time until we see Firefox plugins etc. that try to restore some sanity to the UI.
    • hawgwash says:
      Well, I don't know what happened to me but, I woke up a couple weeks ago and found I had been returned to the old look. Couldn't be happier. Has no one else had this happen? I was one of the loudest squawkers, and really didn't think it would have any impact. Gmail, thanks. Now just leave me to my old ways.
73. stephen hessler says:
    I hate your new look. HATE. on more than one occassion i have tried to execute some move that I would easily accomplish previously on the old layout on AOL and i get bumped off the net all together. I just recently changed my email from aol to gmail after many years and i was ok til you plopped this new look on me. frankly, what i think has happened, and this happens a lot with tech stuff, is your tech geeks have come up with a new look and new features that make sense and feel COOL to THEM, forgetting that gmail users are just plain folk using the internet. This surprises me a bit since google is supposed to be all about being people friendly. steve H.
74. ricardo bustamante says:
    BAD,BAD,BAD. TERRIBLE !!!! UGLY!! and WORST Drains up your Energy!! finally,, puts strain in my eyes. AOL is going to love this!
75. leona says:
    Give us a choice - old or new look for Gmail. Thanks.
76. hawgwash says:
    Since my initial rantings, I have been patiently waiting to see what the response would be to the overwhelming negativity. Well, now I know: "Does Google Listen to Users? It's becoming apparent that Google, Inc doesn't value the average user's opinion." Just now I needed to find and edit a contact...took over 15 minutes. What an absolute disaster! However, I believe Google realizes people will bitch and complain but won't actually move away from GMail. Pity.
77. DougV says:
    Wow, I can't believe everyone's whining about the new Gmail so much. It seems fine to me -- not a huge improvement, but very clean and usable. However I immediately switched it to "compact view" so that it resembled the old version in terms of the density of emails in the Inbox. Anyway, I suggest everyone relax and kick it around for awhile-- it's really nothing to have a heart attack over.. Doug
78. ALLENN RUSSELL says:
    IF YOU USE THIS NEW FORMAT PERMANENTLY, I WILL GO BACK TO AOL.
    • laughs says:
      we'll be glad to see you go
      • unixrab says:
        laughs sucks - Google there is no curse in all of the languages of men to describe the disdain and pure hatred that i have for your new format. do not force this on us you bastards
79. Axl says:
    In terms of IT history, it is Google's equivalent to Windows ME. A total failure with pseudo new stuff that no one ever wanted.
80. Mel says:
    I HATE the new Google gmail look. It has lost my contact list and when I try to scroll down it takes forever then it jumps to bottom of the page. I also have words overlapping other words. It sucks! Someone must of needed job security. HATE IT! I liked the old style better. Google needs to take note from BOA and Netflix when the masses rallied!
    • leona says:
      where is contact list? I use it as address book as well! I do not like the new format.
81. Sceleron says:
    - do not like it. sort of kinky. - pissed off of g-mail. occupy g-mail! :) - switched to basic html, first. - closed account, second. - closed youtube account, third: worse than g-mail. - end of love story with g-mail: no g-spot anymore... ps: - google sux.
82. Hugues says:
    You have used too many words in your name. Please go back and remove some. This is my name, moron. Thank you for whiping out my previous comments when making me go back. Okay, to keep it short: the new look is crap.
83. Wayman Baker says:
    I do not like the new gmail layout. I find it is more time-consuming to use. I would like to use the original version. Please restore it. Thanks.
84. Nev George says:
    Don't like it, I have issues with my sight and the new look I have to strain my eyes to see where things are. Yes it can have background etc but not what I want, the old look suited me it was easy to see and use. As you leave no choice to what format and everyone must change to the new look I have had no alternative but to resort back to using Microsoft Outlook and Windows live mail again which really defeats the object of having on-line email especially as I may not have the same computer outside the home. I really don't see the augment for having to change to something as washed out, anaemic and blocky as this look we have now when the previous look was fine, what's the matter with designers these days, it looks like we are going backwards not forwards. In summery: Not a very good look ,harder to see for some people with eyesight problems and no switchback to previous version if nobody likes it except for the temporary arrangement you have now done away with. In all not happy with it as I suspect are a lot of other people. Nev
85. amy says:
    Hate it hate it hate it. I will leave behind everything Google if they force it on to me. I will take my boycott as far as getting rid of my Droid Bionic and move to the dark side (iPhone?)... Don't test me Google.
86. Paul Odtaa says:
    The new version discriminates against the visually handicapped, the physically handicapped, the elderly, those who can't afford the latest computing equipment and newcomers to computing. The contrast on the in-box is appalling. Yes you can change themes, but you don't seem to be able to change the background of the inbox content or the symbols, which are almost invisible on an older computer. The old text header, eg the Delete button, is much clearer in the old version. The hidden icons until you select an email meant that an old lady I've spent months working with has lost all the built up confidence she had gained. The new conversations structure is useless for a notebook. As a result I don't check the lower items on the list as often and I've lost a couple of jobs because of this. Google appears to be developing the arrogance of Microsoft. The 'Do no evil' organisation is now becoming one Darth Vader would be proud off. Seriously though this new version is rubbish for many of the disadvantaged user groups on the net. It looks like I'll be back to Thunderbird and using the cruddy webmail provided by my hosting company.
87. Len says:
    DO NOT LIKE IT ... GIVE me the old look
88. Anne-Marie Firmin says:
    The 'New Look' g mail is simply awful. It causes enormous visual strain and is a nightmare in terms of accessibility and readability. I have tried all of the themes and they all hurt my eyes due to the change in contrast, text and text background colours. The high contrast theme is marginally better but red inbox and compose buttons is a poor colour choice given those it is aimed at. I have no known visual impairerments and am a young professionals but like thousands of other users who have blogged to to this effect, it is causing huge problems for me now. I am truly bereft as I use this for work and have been having to look not changing provider. I feel so strongly about this that I have even joined an 'I hate g mails new look' group on facebook to try and get some kind of voice across to those with power to change this. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE retain the old option as a 'classic theme' or at least a blue high contrast theme option similar to the existing one.
89. Karoly says:
    Terrible. For me the iconographic look is the worst. Everything is only icons and graphic buttons, no text. I don't know about gmail designers but other humans have evolved something called reading and stone age graphic representation of simple things is not helping... I prefer to select "reply" instead of trying to find the visual representation of it. Maybe at 35 I'm too old... I don't think the flexibility is worth the design change...
90. Vincenzo says:
    Terrible....Come on Google give us a choice, oh yah we do....Yahoo Mail.
91. michael mery says:
    please permit a choice. the old look is simple and clear, does lack some of the flexibility of the new format, but I have no desire nor need for the changes. why not a choice? what is google thinking? if they want something to work on, improve the spell check system - it's mediocre at best.
92. Miaw says:
    That's SUCK!! I change the theme to wood desk, i still Can't find any goodness from it.. I quit & change the old look which far away Better..
93. No2NewLook says:
    YouTube reports almost half of people who watched the video dislike the new look. I've gone through a dozen or so threads and 95% of posts are negative. Worse, Google taking a hard line and refusing to offer the old look as a future option. Theiy're going to lose a lot of users. One of them will be me.
94. Mich says:
    Awful. Awful. Awful. It makes the perceptual system work too hard because the viewer has to impose organization on the letters floating in a blank field. Awful. And did I mention that's it's awful?
95. Dick Whitcomb says:
    A complete and total failure. Perhaps the worst programming ever that has destroyed a valuable tool. I hope Google management wakes up and ends this failed experiment before it destroys your company. Admit it's a failure and go back to the drawing board and work on a replacement for what is perhaps the best program available - if you have to. The current gmail is an intuitive product that is easy to use and you don't need a notebook in your hand to figure out how to perform the simplest function. The graphics and simplistic icons on the new version are the worst I've ever seen Admit you have a loser, go back to the proven version and we'll all be happier. If there is a "drop dead date" when you will kill the superior version for the failed "new look" version PLEASE let us know that date now so we can move in time
96. george smith says:
    Terrible.......please don't force us to use it. I have tried several times but it is poor....I use XP
97. Marilyn says:
    Do not change my g mail ! I will change to another provider if you don't. Tell me how I can go back to the old way. New one is hard to read since it is all blank white. HATE it
98. Kristy says:
    HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT! I tried it, hated it, and went back to the old one and today I see I no longer have that choice. I wish I knew who/how to contact at google to voice my displeasure.
    • Marsh says:
      Maybe you didn't get my first feedback three weeks ago. Difficult to read, difficult to navigate, unworkable. I want the previous, familiar format to return. This so-called improved format sucks the rocks. rm
99. AB says:
    Dislike it a lot. This is a FAIL. Give us a choice: new or Classic and let us decide, not you. This is not an intuitive format nor was it necessary.
100. Shelley says:
     The new look is very hard on my eyes unless I select a plain black and white theme. Any theme that uses images is quite unreadable with the new look. I do not like the transparency of the images showing through all of the text. Who's ridiculous idea was that? As for functionality, I am indifferent. Anything new will take getting used to before I can provide honest comment.
101. Libor says:
     Sorry to say, i don't like it. I wish we can go back to older design.
     • robross0660 says:
       Totally agree with other posters. New look is terrible. Totally confusing with almost total disregard for typical user interface queues. I was almost immediately lost and had a headache. Switched back already. This is total FAIL.
102. solosailor32 says:
     The original Gmail interface was vivid, intuitive, and easy to navigate. The new look is cumbersome and for many, very confusing. I enjoyed the simple approach with basic text buttons that indicated precisely the feature or function that you were looking for. The icons for the various buttons are goofy and unattractive. The look is less intuitive and functions such as contacts or manage domain for business google apps is difficult to deduce the hidden location. Many people in my realm are frustrated and resisting this change.
103. jesse says:
     the new gmail, as with the new google docs, is terrible. The menu system is not intuitive and the lack of contrast is a huge drawback. Often, I can not find the checkbox so that I can do something to one specific email or doc. Along the same lines, why is there no dividing line between the lables section, the mailbox section, and the titles section..? Don't tell me flow. It doesn't flow. It's all smushed together and you can't tell where one section ends and another one starts. It makes it harder to use. On the plus side, being able to resize the chat pane and lables pane is nice. Overall 2.0/10 on the new look.
104. John Lapworth says:
     Cannot reply to individual emails. Where are the Reply/Forward boxes after each email? While at it how about a bit more 'contrast', a filled in box would help. We do not all read our emails at work under strong lights and we are not all as young as the designers of this monstrosity. Why was it changed?
105. Sarah Marks says:
     I could do a better design job. The file names were stacked on top of each other. I could not access the file I wanted. With the very dark back ground it makes it hard to see and view things. All in all the design is ugly. Sarah
106. Randy Roberts says:
     The "new look" is terrible. It doesn't look like the video where you show off the new look. It is only in one color and is slow and some things overlap. It is hard to use. The old was great. "It is not broken don't fix it."
107. Barbara says:
     The forwarding or sending "address bar" does not open up or have a handy scroll bar so you can view all the names you are forwarding or sending a message. Its the first thing that I have found that I do not like about this 'New" look.
108. Ravi says:
     Can I please have the older look, apparently gmail does not give an option of switching back anymore.. i hate this new look.
109. Aexis Rai says:
     I haven't got anything to say that wasn't already hit right on the head by someone who commented below me; I comment to stand with you all. At first, my main problem was the lack of custom themes, and since I'd switched immediately back instead of trying it for some period of time, I hadn't noticed its inherent unintuitive traits. My worst problems: -"Now you only see the buttons when you need them." Well that's nice, but if I don't know where they usually are in the first place, how will I know what one I need when I need it? (Especially considering the next point.) -Look again: the buttons are now pictures. But not everyone can "read" a picture for its meaning, especially people from different cultures. Words themselves are confusing enough, with all their connotations. Pictures, even more so, because there is more distance between the communicable idea and the referent. -The other display densities (even though I'm not forced to change from Compact, I can't see what benefit anyone would get from any other density, and more importantly, every time Gmail tries to push me into the New Look, the density is non-Compact - probably for feature advertisement purposes), the embedded scroll window, and no custom themes. I actually do like one New Look feature: the new expandable search bar, which would (barring the other things) somewhat improve my search time, but since it's Google, searching is already pretty smart and fast. And the varied display densities could stay if enough people needed larger inbox entries for readability, but that's it. I concur with those who said that Gmail was a source of productivity increase for a lot of us, and a method of sending and receiving mail, chat, and documents for free instead of paying for an ISP's mail service or using a program, and that it shouldn't be subject to this overstylization. And since it is apparent that not one person I've seen vocalize their opinions about the New Look had something positive to say, I'd say Google had better take notice.
     • hawgwash says:
       Truth is, this thing isn't likely to go away any time soon, if ever. The people at Goofle know that we will not leave in droves because we are reluctant to change. Chaqnging to a new mail source is as much a pain in the ass as the new look Gmail so, I predict people will continue to bitch about it but won't actually go anywhere else. Not in the numbers trhat would have any impact on the owners anyway. Then they will come back and say "see" everybody loves it.
110. Dave says:
     Really terrible. Remember in the 90's when magazines decided they should be cool and look like websites....and people quit buying them because they were unreadable? Reminds me of that experience......it is a giant leap backwards in usability. Maybe they have microsoft envy.
111. Michael says:
     I want to echo the other comments - I don't like the new look. A suiggestion - give users the option to opt out of the new look and remain with the classic look - that way those who want to use the new look can play with it to their hearts content while those of us who prefer the classic look can keep it. Solves the unhappy customer problem and shows that you're actually listening to customers.
112. mm says:
     Really? It worked fine before and I am actually working. . .don't need an upgrade. . .don't need to waste time on something that worked just fine.
113. Trevor says:
     The new look is the new Coke. Don't like it. When will classic Gmail be released?
114. Matty says:
     The new look is awful! Have Gmail let some nerd out of the labs without telling them about how to make something look nice? Has no one at gmail HQ ever read anything about making a website or document readable for people with reading difficulties - EVER???? The new look is awful, once I am forced to use it I WILL be moving to another mail client like thunderbird to read my mail. If the new look can use then please, please, please - make the current look a theme that we can use. Given the number of other similar responses if noone at gmail hq does anything about this then they will be loosing a lot of their potential market.
115. Wayne Eastman says:
     I tied out the "New Look" last year for about three weeks. When I finally switched back to the original interface I noticed how much faster I was getting things done. The new look is very pokey, like dragging an anchor. I think of myself as a right brainer, however my mind would not let me accept those icons. I had to constantly hover over them to figure what they did. The word boxes of the out look left no doubt and I am able to work faster with them. Th "Reply" and "Send" functions of the new look are camouflaged with a faded gray color. At fist I thought that those functions were not there but I finally found them. My eyes need something stronger than that. It is difficult to imagine how Google thinks that this could be a step forward when it most certainly is not. There are so many things to like about Gmail but the "New Look" is not one of them.
116. ser says:
     I really did not like it either. The contrast is awful. The current version looks easier to point out the stuff. The new version is not clear.
117. jled says:
     horrible step backward in development.
118. roland featherstone says:
     The new look is terrible - it is change for change sake with no benefits for me . The current look is clear and logical - the new one is just frustrating and is a big backward step . Google must provide an option to retain the old look or there will be a large exodus from gmail
119. Stef says:
     I too HATE the new look...if left with no option, I will be leaving GMail
120. David says:
     I donn't like the new look.Please provide an permanent option to keep the old look for the users who want them.
121. moreen says:
     PLEASE, leave us with the old look. It is well laid out and easy to manage. If forced to use the new look I will be looking for another web mail client.
122. mike broadie says:
     The "new look" is just another puzzle to figure out. I appreciate free email, but you asked. I am trying to find a way to add an address to my contact list. If anyone from google really reads these comments, please email me the way to show my contact list. The wallpaper is beautiful.
123. Ray B. says:
     I really prefer the old look, and find that the new look violates almost every GUI protocol. Menus and tools that should be "up front" are hidden under layers that are not intuitive. Less information and less control are available on the screen. For a phone interface, this would be fine, but for a computer interface it is frustrating. The old look was not cluttered enough to need cleaning up because every inch of space had a purpose (it was not perfect, but pretty good). The new look takes away information and control without giving anything back in return except, well, less information and control. If hiding things from the user is the intention, then that has been done. However, that should not have been the intention.
124. Daniel says:
     Nothing about the new look is good compared to the old one. PLEASE Google, abandon the new look, or at least leave the old look as a permanent option.
125. steve says:
     Please, it's awful. Please don't make us use the new look. Please?
126. John says:
     Remember when Microsoft/Hotmail thought it was God, and imposed changes when not required. Wake up Google/Gmail!! Give your end users a choice ... Gmail old (fabulous), or Gmail new (horrendous). We don't need "Big Brother" (Google) to make that deciscion for us.
127. deeps says:
     No Idea why it is a compulsion to move to new look....the new look is damn slow and screen appears to be very clumsy...i switched back to old version but after a months...new look is back and i dont find an option to switch back....i am sure if it stays the same way for some more time...would suggest to look for an alternative option of webmail.........
128. CS Harris says:
     Hey Google! Ever hear of "New" Coke? Changing things every few months is a BAD idea! Leave it alone! or at least give the choice of staying with the old look. Give your programmers something else to do...
129. Anthony says:
     As with Gordon. I tried the new look for about (over) a month and when I switched back it was a major relief. The new look feels as if you're peering through a small and limited window at the main information with irritating clutter all around it. The enforced footer means that your labels (I have over 50) are cut off so that important messages that are filtered straight to their relevant label may be missed. OK, I can change the way I use gmail but that's not the point - why should I have to? What is wrong with the web paradigm we all know? 'User experience' and ease of use is NOT all about forcing the stuff Google (or whoever) wants us to use onto a single screen, it's about familiar presentation - things being where we expect them to be. What else is wrong with the new look? Simple really - hands up all those Gmail users who have to use IE6 at work still (I see thousands of hands - no, make that tens of thousands). Do you have a choice? A chorus of "No!". Nobody WANTS to have to use IE6 any more but we have to and the new look sends you back to the dark ages when the current look works perfectly well. The nasty taste left by this new look is that the changes are all serving Google's interests against the best interests of Gmail users. That's the way to lose an awful lot of customers. Begging, sobbing on knees - Google, If you are absolutely committed to this backward step, give us the option to configure the page, at least so that it is open-ended instead of having a fixed footer position.... just because it's possible doesn't make it desirable!
130. J says:
     It was better as it was. Please leave stuff alone & please stop asking me to join some new service, such as google+, every time I log in. I appreciate that google is a commercial enterprise & needs to make money but it is becoming too annoying now.
131. Roberto Escobar says:
     Stop the insanity !!! Making somthing "new" that does not work is a government method of operation. It is hard to read, navigate, stiff to opperate - do not force me to use this "new" system or i will have to find a new e-mail service - I HATE THIS "NEW IMPROVEMENT" - STOP IT ALREADY - there is not one person i have met that likes this change - my e-mail friends are also of the same thought - why would i invite someone to change to your site if you demand we use something that is of such poor quality as "new and improved" version of what is ill suited to public use
132. Ryan says:
     Your new look is distracting. I believe Ms. Meyer had said it was important to keep Google pages clean and not distracting. People choose Gmail because it was powerful yet simple to use. My mom and 90 year old grandmother could use Gmail, I think you will loose a lot of users. People use Gmail to get there work done, not to be distracted with HD graphics and fancy CCS/JS coding where things shift and move around. I thought you were finally the first software company who realized when a product was done and not to "overdesign" like so many others do. You are now making to complicated/complex. You should, at the very least allow the ability for people to keep the old settings, and not force people to switch.
133. Anne-Marie Firmin says:
     I would like to leave some honest feedback: The new look is really bad -I appreciated that money and time has gone into this but I IMPLORE you not to let this cloud the issue and to maintain an 'old look' option at the very least. The new text, and red compose button causes eye strain-especially to the millions of users suffering from scotopic sensitivity. The general layout is much less appealing and in general you are doing yourself a great disservice if you proceed with this new look. I will seriously consider stopping using gmail for my business if you proceed with the new model and I do not think I am alone in feeling so strongly about this matter.
134. Nadine Giani says:
     The new look is awful...I lose the ability to manage my files which are critical to me as a Florida State volunteer for SHINE... allow us to choose when and if we want changes. Gmail has been great. It it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
135. Julie says:
     I want the old look back!!!
136. Gololo says:
     Today it was imposed on me. No changes back possible. HORRIBLE! UNUSABLE! It's time to start searching for another email service. Anyways, I was relying too much on Gmail >_<!
137. Chris says:
     Tried the new look. Hated it. Switched back to the old look and am hoping against all hope that they don't force the new look down our throats. The new look appears to have been created for small device users, to the disappointment of anyone using the new look on a full size computer. Maybe I should get a 3" monitor so the new look makes sense.
138. Jack Marsan says:
     The GMail New look seems like Windows Vista: a MISTAKE! Why on earth do we have to switch? Can't they keep it as an option? Why do one need a "new look" in his or her email inbox? Was it necessary? I would love to have my old format back, and I hope the public will win, since it seems a lot of people don't like this move.
139. rudra says:
     The new look is really bad. Wasted space, lack of boundaries, looks awful.
140. Jeff says:
     I do not like the new look! The color scheme is difficult to view and it just doesn't feel right. Please, let us go back to the old, better look!
141. Donna Marlborough says:
     Why on earth have you change the look and workability of gmail? The contacts list is now so very, very slow. I do not want my contact list divided up into groups, main contacts etc just alphabetical as it was. As for the ICONs - what is wrong with named boxes as before? Also how do we switch off the box that keeps popping up every time one hovers over the name of the sender in the Inbox. I do not want to add a picture etc. This is such a waste of time - the computer is supposed to be a tool not my master! Donna
142. Pedro Mello says:
     I also hate, hate, hate the “new look" or, in others words.... TERRIBLE TERRIBLE. The response time is "delivery time" - I can´t believe. I turned back to the old version and it became worse: I lost my password (it turned back to my old password too). It´s a bad and difficult time using gmail .....
143. Kevacron says:
     I tried the new look. Unable to update exising contacts or add a picture to them. I need ENGLISH WORDS for functions, NOT ICONS ! I'm in the service business and this new look is not intuitive. If Google wont let me stay with the old look I'll dump my Android devices and Go MAC.!!!
144. François says:
     I was surprised to see that Goggle advertises the new gmail look as being more modern. Oddly, when I used it at work, I thought the complete opposite. It looks as though it's going back in time, as if I was using a prototype thesis project circa 1996, and it feels ...mushy. I truly hope this "new look" won't be imposed on me.
145. Ryan says:
     HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE!. If it isn't broke don't fix it. If they force everyone over to the new look, I am finding a new provider. Hurts my eyes to look at it, and I don't have the time or the desire to find a THEME. THEMES FOR EMAIL!? WHO CARES!? Give me my good old gmail I've been using since the beta test way back when (with slight modifications of course) or I am GONE!
146. Susan says:
     Hate it! Didn't like it at all! SO much slower and smaller and just more difficult over all. I kept it for a few weeks but never did get used to it and switched back PLEASE don't make us use this!! I don't want to have to go to a new email server.
147. hawgwash says:
     Don't know how many emails I have sent under the new look but I still have to go looking for the send button. I also find it easier to navigate in full screen which is a PITA. Now my "Theme" keeps changing. I did not select "Random" but it changes anyway. Do people get paid for this stuff? At least it appears Google has reverted to the old look with options across the top instead of down the side.
148. Anne Johnson says:
     DON'T CHANGE G-MAIL. DO NOT SWITCH TO THE NEW LOOK, PLEASE!
149. Ramona says:
     I was liking it till I tried to use my "folders" that are now "labels". It only labels your emails and leaves them in the inbox. I want to keep them but not in my inbox!! Is there a way to fix that??
150. Bob says:
     The old foremat was easy to foreward interesting things to friends. With the new foremat I can't see how to foreward mail. HOW DO I GET MY OLD FOREMAT BACK? This is no improvement for me. Bob
151. Gordon says:
     Tried the new look for a month. Switched back. Now, the old format looks and feels like an upgrade. Well played Google.
152. gail taylor says:
     As many have stated about the new look, I DITTO the following: "Looks like time to start looking for a new provider" I have assistants who have expressed much confusion, and are struggling through this new change ,,,at MY EXPENSE..... Why couldnt you just leave things as they were??????
153. Mo says:
     Gmail's ease to use is gone. New look is not very professional. It is more targeted for school students and new comers to web.
154. hawgwash says:
     Well, at first I thought iot was me, then I started reading forums and found the displeasure woith this new thing is through the roof. I am one of those who, many years ago helped to spread the word. Remember? We were given “invites” to share with others and the only way you could get Gmail was with those invites. Well, I have been a loyal user, fan and promoter since then. That all changes now. I have an old, very old mind and am easily confused. The new look Gmail greatly assists in that confusion. Sending a simple email takes takes longer as I need to look all over the window for buttons and icons, which routinely move or disappear. The worst for me though is the inaccessability of my Contacts. I have to log into a Google account to add or edit contacts.“Sorry your contacts, bla bla Error 6 bla bla” and the lame excuses like it is an IE issue, just don’t wash with me. Find a fix or watch me go. For the first time in all these years, I may just look elsewhere for my mail service. The last forum I visited on the "how do you like it" topic was running about 5 to 1 against and the Moderator was surprised at the negativity. He should stop by here as it seems to be nearer 10 to 1.
155. saul eisenberg says:
     O DEAR - what the hell have you gone and done - everything was fine !! ok - add a better search box - but the actual new look, the new feel is tiresome - things dissapear and scrol up and down - scrolling everywhere - endless bloody scrolling .. the old look was static - simple - SIMPLE - EASY - google - - ever heard of the saying - if it aint broke dont fix it. i left hotmail - when they changed - i left yahoo when they changed - and now you - i am gonna change. this is silly. why why why - just leave it alone and ask your customers - ask them!! send them an email - a survey - did we get one - NOOOO - not one - now i have to use this over complicated - and over speced mail - i always found what i was looking for in the last 'look' PLEASE PLEASE KEEP THE OPTION OF THE OLD LOOK .. WE DONT WANT IT - NO ONE REALLY WANTS IT... PEOPLE ARE SORTA - OK WELL - YEAH I GUESS I LL GET USED TO IT - BUT THATS AN AWFUL RESPONSE. MOST PEOPLE ARE LIVID - I NEVER GO ON BLOGS - I HAD TO SEARCH THIS ONE TO LEAVE MY COMMENTS. remember when they changed the coca cola formule to be morelike Pepsi? - the world went mad - then they changed it back - and doubled their sales - perhaps its a PR stunt.
156. sandeep says:
     I hate new gmail look..it sucks...why they made it too fancy and complicated..
157. Bland says:
     How can express how much I HATE the new gmail look? It is the worst. I have to say for the time being I am glad that I can switch to the "old" look. Google is headed down the path of Facebook, fixing things that aren't broken just to justify paying employees. have them clean coffee pots in the break room instead of fiddling with gmail. In recent months I have virtually stopped using Facebook because of the forced changes that suck. If gmail continues to "tinker" I too will be forced to find another email carrier.
158. T says:
     I absolutely hate the new look of gmail....at least give people an option. I just found out you can use the old version temporarily, so, I will be using the old gmail, until that feature is not available, then I will go elsewhere.
159. Monkey says:
     Hate hate hate the new look. Will leave gmail over it if necessary. I just can't stand it.
160. Tony says:
     If Google has any brains they will let users decide on the new or old. If the new interface is forced then I'm going to GMX.
161. Elaine says:
     I really don't like the new look, it doesn't work properly, I can't scroll down the full email, without it missing out the middle. When I try to move emails to their topic files, the subjects I have saved move back up to the first one when I try to choose them. Please take it back to the original format, much more reliable!
162. David Holden says:
     I think the new look is awful, the old one was great. When you composed an email you had a symbol to be able to print the message, you haqve taken that away. I have poor eyesight and the lines on the messages were helpful. Why play with things that work. If you keep with this new look I will be forced to leave gmail as it is a ridiculous change with no advantages and huge disadvantages. Give us the opportunity to be able to carry on using the old system.. Regards Dave Holden
163. erik says:
     I agree, new look is awful... 1. the icons for actions no longer "float" ... so if you click the send to spam button you have to scroll back to where you were... this is really the worst part of the functionality loss for me 2. the icons disappear and reappear based on context.... this is UI design 101... don't do that to a user... that's what enable/disable is for. you can't learn where all the buttons are if they bounce around. 3. the widgets/calendar/folders panel seems to slide around a lot as well... and yet you can't customize it at all. 4. the new microsoft outlook 2010 online email browser works *better* than gmail ... true integration of calendaring and email, no struggles to scroll around and have things pop up and disappear.... all in a web-based UI. 5. how many people did google have to let go in order for this to happen? i know if i was working on it, i'd complain so much they'd have to fire me.
164. Unhappyaboutthenewgmail says:
     really unhappy about the new look, so let down, and sadly the Gmail group at Google can care less about the feedback being received... They mention focus groups, and feedback, but give no room for the huge amount of negative feedback they are receiving. I am bummed, the new UI is terrible, clunky, too Facebook like, horrible navigation and not intuitive... really disappointed :( Looks like time to start looking for a new provider....
165. Ronnie Mackay says:
     Same here i just hate the new look as well No txt on the top selection buttons Its think the web is fading out Low contrast txt. When your getting on in years Txt needs to be clearer At least give us an option to add labels alter txt size and quality Or if not the option to keep the old Gmail. Will be moving if i cannot retain the old Gmail look. Ronnie
166. HoHo says:
     I don't like the new look either. I used the new look for 1 week. Got really frustrated with it. I switched back to the old one... Please don't change it!!!! We like the old one better. I could not find the "delete" button every time even though I I know it is that trash icon but I still have to look all the time just for the delete button????
167. Brownm279 says:
     Wow EPIC FAIL. I like gmail and how it worked with droid put if they pull off this snafu I'll be looking for an Iphone. I won't bother explaining why don't like it. Should be obvious to anyone who logs into it. The sad part is when gmail finally got real good and very user friendly they do this. Google is losing touch with its users
168. William says:
     Actually, I like the new look. I took me a week or so to get adapted, but now it's fine. The added search box features are really handy: I've got a lot of email in my gmail and in the past I had to use the search codes to really be able to find a specific email quickly (from: ; after: ; etc.), now you can just fill in the appropriate fields. I first disliked the new inbox style, as it did not work well with my multiple inbox lay-out. However, after having found the density option in the menu and have it set to "compact", that's not an issue anymore. (It might even be an improvement over the old look.) It actually looks much like the old gmail, only the colours are a bit different. I can live with that. But, it might be a lesson for gmail: Humans cannot deal with changes very good. Basic (cognitive) psychology 101.
169. Ani says:
     Just hate it. I have to scroll separately for chat box, which sucks.
170. Geber says:
     The new look is really rubbish! It doesnt work and it is not beautiful at all! I was already not satisfied with the googlemail before but now I am really determined to find another email! It is a pity I have trusted googlemail. Now I will have to contact everyone and inform about my new e-mail. Googlemail? Rubbish!
171. wayne says:
     I've been using gmail for many years because I love it - and now you want to change it!!!!! WHY FIX IT????? WHY CHANGE SOMETHING THAT'S PERFECT ALREADY????? IT'S WHAT I WANT JUST THE WAY IT IS - THAT'S WHY I'VE NEVER GONE TO ANYTHING ELSE. The very least you could do is let us still use the good style and let others choose the crappy new look. Guys like you would tear down the Eiffel Tower or Taj Mahal because they're not modern enough!!!! Signed PISSED OFF IN TORONTO
172. mclaren says:
     Google did the impossible and ruined gmail! How can anyone collect a paycheck for this result!?! Surely google will lose customers due to this... I for one will switch my whole company network away from gmail - after 8 years. The old saying of; "If it isn't broken, don't fix it" has never been more applicable. A genuine question Hesham Zebida; "do you work for google"?
     • Hesham Zebida says:
       No, I don't work for anyone, only myself! Honestly, I like the new Gmail so far, this is just my personal opinion!
173. Merovign says:
     Poor icons, poor contrast, inconsistency, duplication, options that change with context (at least apparently inconsistently), and of course a rollout before the product is finished. Some people never learn, apparently.
174. Vila says:
     Google is giving me a headache, know I have to update every register I have to a new mail address. Goodbye gmail...
175. John Handscombe says:
     If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It wasn't broke, now it is. There's not ONE positive comment here! Google, I really hope you read this page and give us our 'real' Gmail back. It's awful, bland, colourless, those silly icons are not necessary and frankly it sucks harder than a whore. And that takes some doing!!!
176. Mike says:
     It looks like Google may have pulled a "Netflix"--completely out of touch with their customers and what they want. This is the tipping point for me. I've been annoyed with Google for some time, and I will be leaving GMAIL and Google search immediately. I already replaced "google" with "bing" in all my web bookmarks. Google can shove its politics and its control-freak tendencies.
177. Rich says:
     Terrible. The large height of each message drives me nuts, the buttons are not labeled, and overall it just sucks. Now let me waste time trying to figure out how to switch back "temporarily", and eventually find a third party interface.
178. andrej says:
     that is such a WASTE OF MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to wreck something which works great and replace it with toy like shit.
179. Bonnie MacEvoy says:
     I'm not liking it. I have a small screen, and your new look gives me 2 scroll bars on the bottom, and 3 different ones on the right side. I have to slide to the right, and then up and down with varying combos of bars to see the "send" box. I really am not thrilled with the look or any of the features. What were you trying to improve? Why not focus on those items rather than revamp the whole thing?
180. Rafael says:
     New look may have great potential, but it sucks. The buttons are cryptic, have no contrast are ugly, i cant hardly say if im clicking a trash can or a glass of water, the same for the stop simbol looks like a circle and circles. they wanted to make it simple and ruined it because there's no way to cut to the chase.
181. Varun says:
     The new look is absolutely rubbish. I tried using it for a day or two last week and was disappointed. Frankly I don't like the idea of web services changing the look and feel and saying that is going to be the ONLY way to use it after some time ("Switch to old look temporarily!" WTF?). As for better search functionality listed as one of the features, it baffles me how people fail to understand the idea of Front-End-is-for-look-and-feel and Back-End-is-for-processing.
182. Elveebee says:
     I hate it. Whose lamebrain idea was it to do this? Fire him/her. Now.
183. Moses says:
     I also 100% agree with the rest. The old look was easier to view and much better than the new look. keep it original and simple dont make things complicated google!!!
184. John Morris says:
     I also dislike the new look. There's insufficient contrast between the elements and it's a nuisance to have to hover to find where to click; it's a big step backwards.
185. Tom R says:
     SUCKS!!!!!! cryptic icons, loss of function buttons, hard to read even with 20/15 vision, semi-tranparent/low contrast background is REALLY is such a poor idea. The whole desogn team should be fired.
186. dennis snyder says:
     I agree with others who said they are considering leaving gmail if this is progress ..... There is nothing good about it ...forget the "new look " and stick with the old ....good ,labeled areas !!!
187. dennis snyder says:
     Your new look SUCKS !!! I can not figure out how to delete 1 line or scroll up and down . I agree with all the other negative comments that I read ...nothing better about it ...stick it up your ass and return to old good form with everything labeled to easily find !!!! THE NEW LOOK IS TERRIBLE ...NOTHING GOOD ABOUT IT ...YOU GENIUS'S NEED TO GET A LIFE AND LEAVE A GOOD THING ALONE INSTEAD OF LOOKING FOR IMPROVEMENTS THAT ARE NOT THERE !!!!!!!!!!!!
188. Jim Stoccardo says:
     My main complaint is the lack of contrast is very taxing on my eyes. Also, the buttons on the bottom of the page disappeared making it so you have to scroll back to the top of the page to edit, delete emails. I switched back to the old look.
189. Marie says:
     Hate it, hate it, hate it. Like another poster, I resent the extra time I have to spend figuring out what the poorly-designed icons mean. Gmail's users know how to read: why not leave the text labels like "Delete," "Settings," etc., easily readable AS TEXT? And the lack of contrast on the new look makes it harder to read as well. I have posted all this as feedback on the new look at Google as well, but I have a feeling they won't listen and let us have the choice of using either the current or new look.
190. Dipen says:
     It's big NO for me as well. I don't understand why google tried to changes it. As most of the people says "Change is only necessary when it really required". New look is very plain with no boundries between the section. I takes me time to figure out between read and unread mails as there isn't much color differenct. I hope google parallelly also gives the option to go to older look.
191. Graham says:
     Some will like it, some will not, so give us the choice as to whether we use it or reject it. I have tried it, I don't like it - and no, I am not change resistant, I just believe change is only necessary when there is a need for improvement. If I am forced to use this new version I will opt out of Gmail. Simple.
192. Steve B says:
     This reminds me of FaceBook's ramming unwanted "upgrades" on its users. At the very least, an option to choose the original layout.
193. Kieran says:
     I agree with the majority of posters - I hate the new look! I stuck with it for two painful weeks before spending about 30 minutes trying to work out how to switch back. Now I'm pestered every day by a little popup, "Switch to the new look"... Pleasegodno! The new look actually hurts my eyes due to the low contrast. Also like many I find the buttons annoying - I guess it isn't a great stretch of the imagination to associate a trash can with "Delete", but it doesn't even look that much like a trash can to be honest. Either way the extra 1-2 seconds I have to spend thinking about it really bugs me. I hope Google listens to the feedback on this one - otherwise I'd be worried they're losing the plot! And this is from a company that I've always greatly respected over the years, and used many of their free products. Google, I hope you're listening!
194. Mike Finch says:
     You have too many staff people with too much free time. The "old" look works for me - and clearly for most of the responders....Google: do you read any of this - do you care about your user group or are you just doing what's best for us - because you know better than we do? Try respecting our time - fire some of your development people - build another data center - put another part of the internet based industry out of business by giving away what they charge for - give your new look to Apple - they will know exactly what to do with it
195. michael mery says:
     Why can't we have a choice of old or new? given NO choice, bye bye gmail.
196. subford says:
     I do not want the new look or like the looks of it. I will have to go else ware for mail.
197. gilmour says:
     It's all been said - enough is enough I'm moving to GMX as soon as I have a clear space in my schedule.
198. Keith says:
     All I can say is it stinks!!!! I changed back.
199. gs says:
     I tried the new look and initially thought it was great! But it didn't take long, only minutes to start having trouble. This isn't just getting used to a new way of doing things. They seriously have made it more difficult to use. I added widgets, docs and calendar, to my left column and they absolutely ruined that. The hide/show features are silly. If they needed space for something ok, but why hide something if there's room. Don't force this on us. It's a step backwards.
200. Sean Camp says:
     Absolutely HATE the new look? What were you people thinking? I hope you listen to feedback and don't force us into this poorly conceived mess....
201. Mary says:
     I just want to know, how much did you get paid to say you like the new look. It is obvious that the majority doesn't like it and considering leaving gmail......what does that really said about google?
202. Shaun says:
     The old look is horrific. Is this a google joke of some sort?
203. Bill Reed says:
     The new look is horrible, I find that it looks cluttered and wasted space! It is hard on the eyes. I tried it for a week but switched back. I truely hope google changes their mind about forcing us all to the new look!
204. Tom says:
     I don’t like the new look either :(
205. sylvia says:
     I agree with those comments from users who do not like the new look of gmail. I have problems trying to move an item from the desktop to my favourites folder, which keeps moving away. No I don't like it, thought at first it would be okay, but after using it daily, find I really don't like it. Please give us the option to returning to the old style, please make us happy users.
206. James says:
     I really have this new look so much. And why would you not give users the choice of having icons or text for their buttons rather than force an icon view on everyone. For many of my elderly clients and others this makes gmail much more complicated and I wont be recommending it anymore
207. Chris says:
     Don't like it either. Not visually easy to look at and I was pissed when I decided to give it a try and now can not figure out how to get the old look back. I'm going to have to delete an account that I've had for some time now. Why do these companies keep doing this? Every social networking company and email client who forced these "new looks" on everyone.....seemingly failed or slid down the rankings. If it's not broken, don't fix it. If you want to add great features, or ease of access points....great! But to change the entire interface is like force ably moving us to a new home that we don't want to live in. It's not familiar, it's not pleasant. If we want to change.....we'll choose it. If you want to make it an "OPTION" then great for those who would not mind it. BUD DO NOT FORCE IT!!!!!
208. Pam Parker says:
     I hate Gmail's new look so much I'm seriously considering returning to Yahoo, which I can't stand with a passion. What Google's forced on us is hard to read, navigate, and does us folks still on XP and/or old PCs no favors.
209. Robert Mathews says:
     I hate the new look. I got as far as two things before I flipped a bit. 1) It replaced the nice easy text button called "DELETE" with cheesy trashcan that I can't see. DELETE deletes. I get it. The trashcan icon? How is converting to hieroglyphics making the interface "cleaner"? 2) Then they hid the "STAR" for marking emails important. That's my basic workflow for using gmail - read my inbox, *STAR* the ones I care about. And now I can figure out how to do it. This is such a bad update that I'll be forced to actually configure and use my local Mac email client if they actually roll it out.
210. SPR says:
     I do NOT like it al all. No contrast, hurts my eyes, no buttons, no easiness to use. PLEASE don't force us to switch to the new look, PLEASE make the switch optional, PLEASE don't fix what ain't broken. I liked the OLD GMAIL A LOT. And PLEASE read what the user have to say!!
211. Henrique says:
     I'm another one who just HATED the new look. It lacks contrast, the menu bar without name of the icons is terrible. The left menu, with the markers and gtalk is terrible too, because you can't see the markers and the gtalk the way you should see. Hated it.
212. Andy Mac says:
     I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate the "new" look (is hate a strong enough word?) Its TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE. I have 20/20 vision and after reading emails for about 5 minutes in the "new look" my eyes begin to sting from eye-strain. If you guys force this on users I hope you get sued for malicious eye damage. The folder labels (inbox/out-box/sent etc) have no clear definition, the back to folder view button at the bottom of each email is now missing which means scrolling all the way back to the top of the email to return to the folder view... WHOEVER DESIGNED AND APPROVED THIS GETS AN "F-" IT IS AN "EPIC FAIL"... In fact I can see it now in a few months when the epic fail emails come around Gmails "new look" will be epic fail number 1. If the fools who came up with this junk force us to switch then I will simply use POP3 access and switch to using exchange or outlook express to handle my mail when that happens and Gmail's browser interface will be history. GOOGLE understand this... your ad-words advertisements will no longer be viewed by millions if you change to the new look... the UNANIMOUS opinions expressed here also reflect those of my work colleagues and family who ALL HATE THE NEW LOOK. Get It ???? Enough said... PS. Suggestion... how about a nice "simple" improvement like a customisable notification SOUND for new emails? That's surely wouldn't be too hard would it? Idiots.
213. Laura says:
     I hate it. I don't like how it looks and it takes up too much space. Don't like the icons, want buttons with text or text. For people who have low to average level tech ability, or who don't have time to tinker and try to figure things out, this is a pain. Some of us just want to be able to read and organize our email without alot of fuss. I reverted. Maybe if Google switches permanently, rather than get a new email, I think I will just cut down my use of email even further - to only if absolutely necessary.
214. Sam says:
     Ya same boat herre, don't particular like the new look, makes it more difficult to read. They've already applied it to their Google Reader page which sux... makes reading my feeds much more painful :(
215. Joe says:
     At first glance, the new look seems like a step backwards. Take the time to play with the settings and you might find one that works for you. I found the plain black theme(dark) is quite easy to see. Comparing Gmail with the other free email clients, it still looks pretty good.
216. Ricard says:
     I have persevered with the new look for two weeks and cannot take to it. What a releif it is to have reverted. Clarity and intuitive ease of use has gone down significantly in the new look IMO. I can no longer recommend to more senior users that they should adopt Gmail for their needs. This is a triumph of style over form - it is vacuous and does Google no favours. Google has enjoyed widespread goodwill. I fancy that this will change and a backlash of sorts will inevitable occur sooner or later. This arrogant implementation by some smart-arse trendy group of devs who think they know it all, will not help. Dump it and go back to organic, REAL improvements over time. I can forward all my email elsewhere in a trice and they won't even know you've lost me and all the others who might do likewise! :)
217. mtghack says:
     The new look is awful, the buttons are huge even on the "compact" mode. It's difficult to see where the mail content and the sidebar are separated. It makes my eyes tired. These Google guys must have nothing to do.
218. Tim says:
     Terrible, terrible, terrible. I can't stand the new layout. Its horrifying.
219. Steve Jenkins says:
     Hate the new look. If they force me to change I'm out of here!!!!!!!
220. Julian Lees says:
     C***s. There's nothing else to say.
221. Pierce says:
     Terrible. Will change to another if Google implements the change!
222. Andy Tait says:
     I seriously do not like the Gmail new look. I switched to use it but found it very poor and almost immediaely switched back. Why change a product that works so well. If Google decided to implement the change I will be looking at other search engines.
223. DrNick says:
     I have to agree with the majority of posts here in that I think the new look is a very poor design. If by clean and fresh they mean bland and white then they have achieved what they set out for but at a cost of usability. For anyone with the slightest visual disability I think it's going to be exceedingly difficult to use.
224. yo says:
     The design is terrible!! there is no color contrast or dividing lines between the control bars and the message window which makes everything on the screen blend together. Looking at the display for long periods of time literally hurts my eyes. The buttons are huge and take up a ton of space even in the compact mode. One of my favorite things about gmail was that the design interface stayed out of the way. The new look is definitely a move in the opposite direction. I don't understand why the email function needs to take a back seat to the "new look."
225. Andrew says:
     Wow, I thought I was the only one! The new look is terrible. The big red compose button is an eye-sore and very disctracting. I hope they let us keep the old look, but the constant nagging pop-ups are also really annoying. Maybe this will be the trigger to finally make me switch providers, for a better look and less privacy concerns.
226. Chris B says:
     I seriously dislike the new version. Appearance and functionality. I didn't need a change. If Google does not repent, or at least allow the old look as an option in perpetuity, I may well be looking elsewhere.
227. Jettsenn says:
     Bland, bland, bland. I truly dislike it. No color with the regular theme. The optional themes are horrible. I will be switching when forced to use it. I have been using GMail for about Five hours per day, for the last 10 years. I would hate to stare at the white, bland screen for all these hours. Even if I only used it for few a few minutes, I still would not be staying with GMail. I am actually considering Windows Live Mail. Not as good as GMail, but at least they have some pleasant colors. I do hope Google improves it before it is forced on us.
228. Altrego says:
     I am sure now having spent resources in it, Google will not abandon it. Some version of it will still be forced down on us in the end. Looks like Google is turning into a real corporate, where often useless work is generated by managers for the employees for their year-end appraisal, and the result is pushed down the users throat for absolutely no reason.
229. Laurie Chatterton says:
     Hate, hate, hate it. They replaced text labeled buttons with icons you have to memorize what they are, mouse over, hold. A text button is much faster. The filter labels are very hard to see, no contrast or outline on them. I use labels a lot, and now they are hard to see. Too much wasted space, even in "compact" mode. I organize my email with a lot of folders (labels) and now they are hidden till I mouse over and they drop down. Give us a choice to choose the old gmail look. It won't let me go back to the old look anymore, so I'm stuck with it.
230. Martin says:
     Honestly? I hate the new look, it screws up my eyes Please let us retain the old look
231. Duke says:
     I totally hate this new look for gmail. I don't know where their heads are. I surely hope there is a way to leave it the old way. Almost like google/gmail is dictating on what THEY want and not the users. They are getting too big to care. Leave it alone,please.
232. Storm says:
     The new look is a big step backwards. Even at "compact" setting, the information density is too sparse. So much wasted space that doesn't help me. Unattractive button design. No longer a joy to use. Perhaps I should migrate to another email system. Suggestions anyone?
233. robin says:
     I really hate the new look and feel of the new gmail! Please leave it alone -
234. JF says:
     I hate the new look. It gives me eye strain and I will not be using it. I am going to have all of my gmail forwarded to another account and close my gmail account. You are wrecking what was a useful service. FUG
235. tw says:
     I must admit, I hate it - just to echo most people's opinions - Google MUST give its users a "retain original look" option.
236. michael mery says:
     can we talk the Google Guys into leaving the 'old look' available? I tried the new look - yuck. why fix the clearly widely accepted functional? or, as above, 'if it ain't brok.................' One other comment: why don't they fix that worse than mediocre spell checker? now it's not broken, but was never better than poor.
237. Anonymous says:
     The new look is bland, lacking color and contrast as well as replacing the user friendly text buttons with icons that you have to re-memorize rather than just being able to look and click. It's not an upgrade, it's a downgrade. Personally, if I'm ever forced to switch to that steaming pile of crap, I'll have no choice but to switch email services to something that isn't made of fugly and fail. New features are fine, but a new look is not. The new features are fine, but the new look should just be an optional theme/mode. There's no need to completely scrap it, but forcing people who like the old look to switch to the new one would be horrible. Google shouldn't fix what isn't broken. There's nothing wrong with allowing users to create labs, extensions, addons, scripts and what not for Gmail. In fact, sometimes it's best to leave some Gmail features external and/or optional. Otherwise Gmail gets ruined forever because Google wrongly assumes everyone loves even their most tasteless changes to the service. Well, alot of people don't love it. They hate it. And Google should foxus less on changing the look and more on just adding the features WITHOUT butchering the interface. Changing text to icons? Bad. Magnifying the background images of themes or changing the color scheme of themes? Bad. Implementing the new search filtering and space modifier without changing ANYTHING else? Good.
238. Oblong says:
     I really dislike it. I can't see the calendar and chat at the same time, and the black-and-white makes it much more difficult to determine, at a glance, where the message threading is (not ever user has an icon, and sometimes the messages have weird formatting that makes it difficult to tell). The old system of using a different color for every message in the thread was, if not cleaner, definitely easier to follow visually. too many unlabeled buttons, grey-on-black-on-grey-on-white-on-black color scheme, total blah.
239. Alex says:
     Gmail's new look is horrifying. I would like to express my most sincere and heartfelt insults to Google's product manager who decided to throw out one of the best pieces of software in the history of humankind to switch to something so poor. Gmail was genuinely perfect, the best mail system ever, and given how much time everyone spends using email, having a perfect mail system was a dream come true. Too bad good things never last.
240. Jeff says:
     I can't stand the new look. I tried using it for several days, but now I'm back on the old look until I'm (unfortunately) forced to change. There is way too much wasted space on the screen, even in the most compact setting. It is visually distracting to see my backgroun (theme) in the middle of my priority inbox. The new icons for message actions require more thinking to access vs the old text based ones. The new location of these icons is poor too, because the ads now separate them from your message. I don't like the new conversation style emails because it is difficult for me to pick out one person's mail from the list. I prefer the old grouped and color coded way of showing an email thread. Navigating between contacts and the mailbox now takes more clicks. Before I could expand the tree of hyperlinks in the upper left so I could see my "Mail", "Contacts", and "Tasks" and switch between them with one click. Now the box will not stay expanded so no matter what I want to do it requires 2 clicks.
241. Sean says:
     It is so poor it's unbelievable. Who wants their emails spaced out this widely so you can only see half of them? Why is it all so white? The old look is so much better and the new look is so bad that if they force me to switch to the new look, I'll leave gmail. Such a shame because it's fine as it is. Why make it so much worse?
242. kiry says:
     Simple, fast at organizing your email & folders and not bloated with useless stuff is what makes a good email provider. That was the problem with Microsoft Windows, always bloated and with useless software installed that most never use, instead of just the operating system and internet explorer to register your copy and update OS after a fresh install. Microsoft should have left the other programs available for download on their website like outlook express etc so users could get just what they need and not and bunch of bloatware they don't need. Folders is way nicer than smart tags also. New is not always better and that's the case here.
243. Martyn says:
     Why on earth do they feel the need to change something that works. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The new look is awful. Please keep it as it is.
244. shan says:
     i hate it it is inconvenient to scroll in order to initiate chat, i can't tell if i am on google search results or gmail without my glasses on, and all the menus are shorted. its colourless and unattractive and i cannot easily sort items like i could before. also, as a side note, i use gmail because i hate windows mail, yet when i go to give you feedback, it defaults to windows as my email choice, even though i am logged in here. why did you guys not tell us in advance? i would have liked notice. if you do it again, i will leave gmail. i hate unsolicited and unnecessary change and thats why im ditching my facebook, why i left myspace, etc. i was all set to hop over to google social stuff but now i definitely won't.... plus i can't get to my attachments. put it back PLEASE
245. Bo says:
     The visibility is horrendous. The contrast between read and unread emails is barely visable, and the new conversation mode is too informal! I'm very grateful to see that I'm in the majority in my opinion.
246. marc says:
     I tired the new look for a few days it takes up to much screen. I normally run at 200% since I'm very near sided so I see just a few e-mails even on the "cozy" setting. Also I use labels alot and chat almost never. The priority seems to be hide sent mail / labels and give the space to chat. And are total dependent on the "canned messages" Maybe some of this can be configured Would very much prefer to stick to the look.
247. Frugal says:
     It stinks. What was great about google mail was it was clean with no gimmicks and garbage to load up the browser and slow it down. I'd prefer folders instead of their smart tags or whatever they came up with but that I can put up with. It just makes it harder for me to organize my mail. It's free so why complain, right? I switched to the new look and it took me an hour to get back to the old look. It didn't help that the magic little "gear" that lets you go back was buried by some nag message from google. Once I dismissed it I finally found the gear. The new look is ugly and it doesn't work. I have been using this to access my work email addies but frankly if google is going to insist that I jump through hoops to get it to sort of kind of work with a tremendous amount of inconvenience I will bail and look for something no-frills with a clean interface - like gmail USED to be.
248. Alle Wells says:
     I don't like the new look. If I am to continue using Gmail, I must have the old look back. I can not access my sent attachments. It is imperative that I am able to do this or I must find another email service.
249. Romulo Fernandez says:
     Change must be for the better. Looks and features are not enough to make something better, you also need functionality. Functionality must be at least as good as before, and in this case isn't, Take the scroll bar for example, with the new look you have to use both hands when using a laptop to drag the scroll bar with the pointer while holding the left button with the other hand, it lacks the up and down arrows in the classic look. By the way, if improvement was what they were looking for, they should have gone to the Mac way, with the up and down arrows on the bottom of the scroll bar window. For me, I will stay with the classic look, I may even get back to Mac.
250. Praveen Muramalla says:
     I don't like the add bar where it is in new look, the old look is much better.
251. maverickosama says:
     i like the look... easy to use.
252. Matt says:
     I have two Gmail accounts. I switched my less-used account to the new look and now I cannot access my settings to turn it back. I also cannot access chat, folders or log-out. I keep getting errors every time i try to click on anything. I believe this has something to do with the theme that I had on the account but i can't fix it. I have no problem using the 'old look' on the same computer so I'm assuming something is going on with the new look.
253. Tim Wilson says:
     I couldn't agree more with all of the posters who hate the new look!! I know that the designers of the old Gmail themes might have been too costly for Google and may have attributed to them going to a more simple design. Too much money for a "free" product (which is what Gmail is). But just like Google itself (a "free" internet search engine), it's what brought the masses to their doorstep. And also sing Google's praises. Over and over again! I never gave out my gmail email address to anyone. Unless it was someone important or business or family related. I'd use the other ones for all that other miscellaneous junk when they needed you to include your email address. Not my GMAIL acct. No sir! That's my main gig. Let 'em have at those other ones... and spam the crap out of them. But I won't give out my Gmail acct to just anyone. Sure it's a free product. But if Google offers this kind of "Very best free stuff on the planet", than I wonder, hmm.. what about the the stuff they're trying to sell? I would totally consider their products first over anyone elses. They WON me over handedly. Now... hmm... I guess they're just the same as anyone else. Too bad. I still love Google though.
254. jmann says:
     I switched to the new look out of curiosity and took me more than 30 minutes to find where I could change it back to the old style. I was having trouble finding things and the colors make it had to differentiate elements on the screen. They are touting the conversations feature which I hate because that is not how a old email user thinks. If they force me to switch, I am going to Thunderbird or god forbid Outlook.
255. Edwin Yip says:
     Maybe it's just me, but I think the new look of Gmail is not clear enough, comparing the new look with the old look, is like comparing "flat" feel of Windows Phone 7 with IPhone's clearer look. And I think Google should not force people don't like the new look.
256. Youn-ah says:
     I agree. It's not right if I have to "guess" what will appear when I hover over an icon. Usually I'm positive about changes, but this new look doesn't seem any better except the more conversation-like threads. I wish we had an option not to change to the new look. The new look is really annoying to me.
257. Totchos says:
     Yeah the new look is pretty horrible. I have no idea why these websites feel the need to roll out new looks. Every time Facebook does it, it destroys the useful features and replaces them with crap. Firefox decided to go with the Chrome look and feel. I still refuse to upgrade from 3.6. Now GMail. Sorry but if you're going to force me to use this new Google+ style look and feel, which is the main reason I don't use Google+, I'll stop using GMail just like I stopped using Facebook.
258. Maria Pavel says:
     What I like with the gmail new look is I don't no longer need to do an extensive scrolling of a page. There are times that I need to scroll back and forth just to check if I have a new msg or none. Not only to my msg but same thing with the small chat list at the side. I am happy that I get used to this new gmail look easily.
259. RK says:
     I hate it. Simple as that. It's hard to distinguish the replies in a conversation. I was not sure whether they did any customer focus group before they rolled out these changes. Worst part is you can't keep your old theme. You are forced to change to the new look soon. Sorry Google, arrogance is the word that comes to my mind
260. Steve says:
     The colours appear too washed out...and, as someone else noted, "fuzzy". I would also like to have the From names in a different colour (or perhaps in bold) to differentiate it from the Subject line. Right now it reads like one big line - all in fuzzy, washed-out grey.
261. nicolefanorg says:
     it sucks i liked gmail because it was easy to use now you cant find where anything is
262. Ronald says:
     I've had the new look for a week now and still hate it. What was wrong with the old? If it ain't broke, don't fuck it up! The choice of themes is -for the moment at least- very limited. The 'HD themes' are nothing but a wallpaper that makes your email hard to read. The colour combinations they've picked for the plain theme all have bad contrast. I don't like the way the buttons at the top of the email list now only appear when you select an email. I'm getting fed up with all those hiding and appearing items, just like that annoying statusbar in Chrome. Just show me all the buttons and disable the ones I can't use if you really must but stop moving stuff around my screen when I move my mouse. Would be much easier on the eye. I also miss the buttons at the bottom of an email. After reading a long thread there's no longer a 'back to inbox' button at the bottom; you have to scroll to the top first. And those avatar pictures next to messages? I can read thank you very much. Showing my own picture when I'm replying? Come on... I know it's me who's typing! And why can't I turn those silly pictures off? I've left MSN because of all those pointless gadgets. If I want to see pretty pictures I'll go to Flickr. Gmail is a tool that just needs to get the job done. The new 'clean' look is so plain it's beyond boring.
263. ash says:
     I love the new look. What are all you guys complaining about. I think its that you all dont like change, not that it is really inconvienient. Things are just as easy to find, just guve yourself a little while and you'll adjust change is not always good, but try to bve more accepting and openminded. I really like the new look! I think its time for a change! I think it great!
264. Jan says:
     HORRIBLE !!
265. T. K. says:
     To tell the truth, I prefer the old look mainly because the old look gmail is easier to work with. The new look gmail may look nice but it is not as user friendly as the old one. I hope gmail allows users to stay with the old one because if not, I may switch to something else...
266. Frank Lee Meidere says:
     Well, I suppose it's pretty and has lots of flashy crap designed to impress the rubes, but for those of us who have been using Gmail for its functionality, this "new look" sucks. After sending out a group mail, and receiving replies from individuals in that group, I used to be able to reply to each individual. That is no longer possible. The name of the sender appears in the upper right-hand column, and used to stay visible when you scrolled down. It no longer does this. The various sections (labels, contacts) now open only when you hover over them, and half the time don't work when you click on them. I can no longer access some of my labels because they're at the bottom of the list, and as soon as I scroll to the bottom, it jumps back to the top. I don't really give a crap about the pretty bows and ribbons -- I want Gmail to work. If there were another option that was even close, I would switch right now. If Gmail continues to screw up what has, until now, been a very good program, I'll be forced to switch regardless. I wish they'd stop trying to cater to the "golly-gosh-gee-whiz" crowd and focus on those of us trying to get some work done.
267. ceu says:
     i dont really like the new look. just like how i dont like the instant search when you try to search on google. its annoying. you should give us more options instead of forcing us, google.
268. Jakes says:
     Hi Hesham, Itx been a while I visited here. I hope you and ur FB club is rocking. Now let me express my opinion about Gmail's new look. When I first saw it, I was like "What the hell happened to Google team". But it took a bit of time to realize new features like advanced search and all. But still I was not ready to accept the new look until I made Display Density to 'Compact'. BTW, if anyone wants to revert back to the old look, he/she can do that too :)
269. bobfromthejob says:
     forced change is not good (for me) so I am forced to change to another service, Google? WTF? is this freedom of the Internet or is the NSA / CIA forcing you?
270. Amit says:
     Personally, I like Gmail's new look, it's way better! I like the fact that Google is always improving their websites (gmail, analytics, etc), that's their secret of being the best - always working, never stop working and improving daily. Thanks for sharing!
271. Victor Stanescu says:
     Gmail is being updated to be consistent with the new Google+ look and soon to be followed by all the other Google services! They are going to attract even the user that were still for some unknown reason not using Gmail as their main e-mail provider!
272. Roger says:
     To be honnest it is ugly and bland... it looks like if it has been designed for an iPhone. There is no contrast and try it on a 24 inches screen it is painfull for the eyes... The minimalist attempt looks like if it was designed in the 70s... I don't think people were complaining about the current look so why changing it???
273. Chris says:
     I'm currently using the latest look of gmail and it looks pretty cool for me! I like the buttons above where these are presented by simple images. I also like how the it fits my screen, easy to scroll button at the side. The combination of my old gmail look arrangement plus the new one made my email activities much easier for me to handle.
274. merrierobin says:
     Thank you, I finally found it. Temporary....!! But there is no send feedback button. I understand customer service is not a priority with gmail and google. More corporate take over? Thank you for your replies.
     • David says:
       HERE IS HOW TO GIVE FEEDBACK ! - - - You can leave feedback in two ways. (1) When switching back (temporarily) to the old look it will give you an option to Tell Them Why. Click it for giving feedback. Oh and by the way, to switch back to the old gmail (until they take away the option), you click on the cog/tool heiroglyphic (not the one on the top right - the other one, about an inch below it - there will be a drop down menu with the feature). (2) Back to feedback... the second way of giving feedback is at the bottom right of the screen (when using the new look). You should see "About the New Look | Give Feedback". Click feedback there. I doubt they'll listen to our legitimate, constructive concerns. I doubt they'll do anything but mark our feedback as spam, while smugly laughing in a haze of their own farts. However, it's a good place to vent the frustrations that will cause many like myself to abandon gmail after many, many years. My best to all. Take care. Down with neo-Gmail!
275. merrierobin says:
     Thank you for your reply, but the gear icon at the upper right does not give me this option. only "mail settings" and "mail help" I already had tried this. Thank you. Please, is there another way to go back to the previous format? and How.?
     • Hesham says:
       No problem, mmm this is weird, look the screenshot below (I took it from my gmail account to show you): I don't really know any other way! Sorry! For you, and for everyone else who don't like the new Gmail look, there is a button in your Gmail account at the very bottom of the page says "send feedback", use it and tell them why you don't like it! (maybe the Gmail team will respond to to your wishes) Thanks
276. Aparajith says:
     Why is Gmail forcing everyone to change to the new look in a few days. I prefer the old look and want to stay with it.....
277. merrierobin says:
     It seems that you only respond to people who like the new look. The rest of us are ignored and there is no indication of how to return the the previous design. I liked the blue color. It was relaxing to my eyes. This is starting to look like AOL or yahoo.
     • Hesham says:
       This is not the case, your comments was not yet approved, that's all! Yes, there is an option to go back to the old look.. Click on the setting gear (on the top right side), then choose "Revert to the old look temporarily".
     • dan says:
       When you are on the new gmail theme page there will be 2 settings buttons in the top rh side of screen. (Star shaped buttons) On the old gmail home screen there was only one “star” settings button but with the new gmail screen there is a second one and it is below the other. Click on the lower settings button and a small window will drop down and will include “revert back to old look temporairily”.
278. Anita says:
     I don't see any improvements. Buttons disappeared. The colors in my theme are washed out, frame and color indication of which part of the program I'm using are also not there. So do I have a choice in this or not? I have the message that I can only "temporarily" hold on to the old look. Not pleased.
     • Hesham says:
       Thanks for the feedback Anita, I think "temporarily" means you won't be able to use the old design for ever, one day it will be a must!
279. aliabu says:
     I like new look, it's clean and spacious. Though some of the spaciousness means not as many conversations can be listed on the main page. I've reduced my type size but I can't seem to reduce conversation list spacing? I feel the new toolbar icons are a bit clunky and hard to recognize, esp the "archive" and "trash" icons. And the "settings" gear icon appears in the top bar as well as on the main page, so I have mistakenly clicked on the wrong one a couple times. Little things, but overall, change is good!
280. Dina says:
     Hey, I'm all for improved searching, but why does the look have to change? It was just fine the way it was. Google has proven itself over the years to have more than likely merely stumbled into its fame, it surely doesn't show evidence of actually thinking things through and finding out what users like. How about an option? The only option we had was "take the new look now, or keep the old look until we force the new look onto you". Sounds terribly insecure to me, y'know.
281. Alex says:
     It would be good except for one thing: the Gadgets are not meshing well with it. I used to have Tasks and Calendar on the left panel and could scroll to see them, now they're in a separate tab from Chat (the least useful gadget for me) and I have to use a separate scrollbar to see them.
282. merrierobin says:
     How can I get my old look gmail account back??? I hate the new one and do not like the fact that there is no way to get back. I regret trying it.! Please leave clear directions on how to get my old gmail back. Thank you.
     • Hesham says:
       Here is how to do it: Click on the setting gear (on the top right side), then choose “Revert to the old look temporarily”. I hope this helps
283. Nikola says:
     I prefer the old look. It has a very good contrast and interface. The new look it too flat (however themes are available) and it runs considerable slower on my computer, i.e. there is a noticeable lag.
284. Mai Dhong says:
     I've used the new version for a few days. I like the quick access to advanced search options, and the settings icon saves me one whole click. The appearance is OK, I guess, but the other features listed already existed in the previous version and were very usable. The usability of the new version has not improved, and I don't feel that it's necessarily more "modern" in appearance, just different. [Note: I am not change-averse, either]. Some certain drawbacks - First, it seems out of focus. Way fuzzy. I don't know if it's a resolution issue, but it's not a local hardware issue because the old version is crisp on my machine. Second, the themes with the light message box are too light and the dark ones are too dark. And my favorite theme is gone: Phantasea. Bummer. Third, this will be a forced changeover since users are committed if they want to keep their email. In essence, there is no better alternative to Gmail, not even close, so we're completely at the mercy of the big G-dawg.
285. Jeanie says:
     As for me, then I prefer their previous design. It was much better then new one. I don't like the combination of red and white
286. Peter says:
     Google is now more cleaner to look and it is more convenient to use, it is now a hassle free website unlike the old one.
287. Prosklhthria says:
     I generally don't like to switch from what i already use successfully . This morning i noticed this light blue update window but as almost always i ignore it. I just read the post and now i have an idea about this new look. thank you for sharing this informations. I'm not ready to switch but now i feel good since at least i know what is all about!
     • Hesham says:
       I hear you! Some times switching is not good, some companies destroy their reputation and user-base by developing to the wrong path! But, this one I think is cool, however you can switch back if you don't like it!
288. Jamie Northrup says:
     I've had the preview for a few months now and love it, and now there are even more improvements, a couple things I will need to get used to is the new look archive button, and the starred button being on the other side, but that shouldn't take long.
     • Hesham says:
       Hi Jamine, It happened to me today that the image buttons confused me a little haha, it's just a matter of a couple of days to get used to it!
289. tushar says:
     i love changes because they always make the experiences better. Lets see how Google fares with this one
     • Hesham says:
       Cool! I agree... Changes are welcome if they enhance user experience!
290. Steve says:
     Hesham, I am not always a fan of change for change sake, often I dislike changes at first, and then sometimes grow to like them. But all the changes to Gmail look really good right off the start. So far so good.
     • Hesham says:
       Same here Steve, I don't like the change for change sake! One thing is cool about Google's changes these days is they give the option for you to accept change, I think they have learned the lesson (finally), and they no longer force anyone! Glad you like it, and thanks for stopping by!
291. Bob says:
     I hate changing the words to icons on the tool bar - much less intuitive and slower pretty doesn't = functional
     • Hesham says:
       Hey Bob, I am sorry, but I don't agree with you at all! The icons is pretty small one color that really weight nothing, and I am sure that your browser will cache it so it won't be a slow issue! It's flashing on my browser! I appreciate your feedback and opinion, thanks a lot for stopping by and taking the time to comment!
       • Tim says:
         I completely agree with Bob on this one. Usability-speaking, replacing words with icons isn't a smart move - there shouldn't be any guess work involved when I'm checking my email.
292. Ryan Biddulph says:
     I'm luving the new look too Hesham! Clear, simple and focused. Thanks for sharing :) RB
     • Hesham says:
       Yeah Ryan, Really pro look :)
293. Justin Dupre says:
     I noticed the new Gmail look when I opened my Gmail today. It looks very clean and nice.
     • Hesham says:
       Good to know!
294. Tanya says:
     I like the new look but I had to switch the layout to "cozy" because it was way too spaced out before. I'm not a huge fan of change so I hope they don't start changing it a ton like facebook does..
     • Hesham says:
       I think Google is more careful now with that! Thanks Tanya, I appreciate you visit and comment!
295. Gera says:
     Hi Hesham, Still haven't on my Gmail but I bet in few days will be. It seems new interesting changes :) Don’t know the motive but the video is full screen and only see the comments, right sidebar isn’t appearing. No matter Chrome or Firefox Cheers, Gera
     • Gera says:
       After the comment and refreshing the page, the screen looks normal again:)
       • Hesham says:
         Probably you visit when I was cleaning the house! (mostly cache plugin issues) However, you are welcome any time :)
296. Tim says:
     I haven't got the new update yet Hesham but it sounds awesome. An upgraded search feature sounds very exciting. I'm always searching through old important emails from years ago via gmail.
     • Hesham says:
       Yeah, I can imagine that! As I stated before in some other comment, I can not live without a good email search :)
297. Gareth says:
     Very nie post. I like the new HD themes and the speed of the new Gmail. Thanks !
     • Hesham says:
       Yeap! it's cool, but for some reason I prefer the G+ theme :)
298. Stacy says:
     Hi Hesham, Thanks for the heads up! I can't wait to see the new changes, they sound like a big improvement! I haven't been using gmail for too long so I'm probably going to be one of the last ones to see the changes! Stacy
     • Hesham says:
       Hey Stacy, I hope it will appear soon on your account, I think it's only a matter of a few days and all Gmail account will be upgraded! Thanks for stopping by.
299. Caleb says:
     The themes are awesome looking esp that one with the stone rock background and the way you use the whole system is just futuresque. It would be cool if I could get the boys at Google to design the ultimate blog theme for me :cool:
     • Hesham says:
       Haha.. Caleb, this design will cost you a lot of money :)
300. Alan Tay says:
     Gmail new look just look simply awesome. I notice there are some changes few months back on Google Docs first, and then few days/weeks back on Google Reader and now Google Mail. It is clean and I love the way the search works. It filtered nicely and I am sure I will have a good time searching for my mails.
     • Hesham says:
       Hi Alan, I can not live without the email search feature, and it just work perfect, and better than any other email service I've used in the past! Thanks for sharing, much appreciated.
301. Robert says:
     Everyone's been going on about this "new look" gmail but I've been using it for ages! It was a theme available in the gmail settings for a good while now
     • Hesham says:
       mmm.. Robert, I don't think you got it! This is a completely redesigned Gmail, this means the code has changed, it's not just a theme! I mean have you used the advanced search? have you been able to drag elements and reorganize your Gmail email? (I doubt it)
       • Robert says:
         Oh sorry my apologies, It turns out Gmail didn't want to upgrade me to the new look until just now! I thought I'd already been upgraded but I just got the prompt there now and I apologies, it's completely different, and I like it!
         • Hesham says:
           No need to apologies buddy, glad you've got the new update now :) Enjoy!