Gmail without an Invitation!

[amjedm]

Why is it still in beta though? Its been out yonks and pretty much everyones got a gmail account now anyway and it works, i've never had any problems with it.

Because they want to win the award for longest running Beta software?

[j.o.s.h.1408]

LOL. i too use gmail has my main email. works well with outlook without the need to pay aditional fees like msn hotmail

[UKMuFFiN]

In February 2005, ZDNet published an article about the recent phenomenon of a beta version often staying for years and being used as if it were in production-level [1]. It noted that Gmail and Google News, for example, had been in beta for a long period of time and were not expected to drop the beta status despite the fact that they were widely used; however, Google News did leave beta in January 2006. This technique may also allow a developer to delay offering full support and/or responsibility for remaining issues. In the context of Web 2.0, people even talk of perpetual betas to signify that some software is meant to stay in beta state.

The plot thickens...