Thanks to FrankArr I've been given the opportunity to try out Gmail. My mail archive currently contains six messages - so I wouldn't categorise me as a heavy user - the reason for that is on the night I created my account they seemed to have some serious problems coping with load.
For about four hours I was unable to log in and check the mailbox, and when I did it was extremely slow. I am now pleased to report that it is running very quickly right now - but that scared me - maybe too much.
You see - I am a very heavy Outlook user, I use it when I am sitting on the bus, when I am waiting at airport terminals, on planes, in taxis, on the couch, and sitting up in bed. Most of the time I can get connected, but I can usually go without on planes, taxis and on the bus.
The beauty of Outlook I can carry around my _current archive_ of 2GB of e-mails and blog entries (I use NewsGator) with me. Now, if I relied on Outlook to do the searching I would go mad, so I get instant results using Lookout (great tool, must have if you are an Outlook user).
Searching for every blog entry, e-mail and post to aus-dotnet that FrankArr sent to me or to the public since the start of the year took about 1.63 seconds. Gmail isn't compelling enough for me to abandon my rich client app.
I'm not giving up on Gmail - I am trying to figure out how I can use it in a meaningful way. What does Google want to say to Outlook power users out there!