“… We get asked all the time why Google keeps its products in beta for so long. And Gmail, five years after launch, is consistently a subject of this questioning, even of jokes.”
Google has acted uponto address such questions (and jokes… errr) by dropping BETA tag from its app logos. Now Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar and Google Talk are NOT beta products. Beta word is mostly associated with new and trial version of products being developed. With so many years in existence, Google Apps have matured and found stability in its offering.
So, Google has taken BETA tag out from its apps by removing small grey word “beta” next to logo. Does this change anything for Google App users? Only thing that will change is look of the logo which appears lot cleaner without the beta word. As far functionality, Google Apps will work and function like they have been doing so in past with more new feature in offering (hopefully).
The Times also points out that practically speaking, the change will mean precious little to Gmail’s millions of users” who’ve been happily using Gmail in beta for years. If our recent poll on whether “beta” bothers you, it seems clear that next to no Life hacker readers were avoiding Gmail just because of its beta label. Still, if your workplace was hesitant to adopt Google Apps because of its beta status, this move could make all the difference (a fact not lost on Google).
We’re still seeing the beta label on every Gmail account we’ve got as well as our Docs accounts, but Calendar is beta-free. Google’s roll outs are always just that—rolling—so you can probably still expect to see the rest of those beta tags drop sometime yet today or this week if they haven’t already. The Official Gmail Blog even highlights a new tongue-in-cheek Gmail Labs feature called Back to Beta that, when enabled, soothes the soul by putting the familiar beta sticker back on the Gmail logo.”