GMail 'preview pane' sneak peek

Users of Gmail, Google's email service, can now preview their mail instantly with a new experimental feature: a preview pane. Google said the preview pane, which can be configured horizontally or vertically, should especially benefit users with large- or high-resolution screens. "It’s probably a very familiar layout to those of you who have used Gmail on a tablet device. We also think it’s going to work especially well if you have a larger resolution screen," associate product manager Maciek Nowakowski said in a blog post. Nowakowski, who noted the design is similar to Gmail for iPad or Android, added this will be handy for people who want to see more message snippets. For now, the feature can be accessed and enabled - or disabled - via its Gmail Labs. Once enabled, a Gmail user can see a toggle button in the top right corner of the message list, which lets one switch between preview and list views. "For those of you who have more vertical space you can also move the preview pane below your message list. You can enable this using the dropdown arrow next to the toggle button," Nowakowski said. Nowakowski also said there will be a three-second delay in marking a conversation as read after previewing it, although the timing can be changed. 'Incomplete' product? Some early testers did not exactly give the new feature a good rating, however. Mashable said that the feature broke Gmail Labels and led to an "ugly and cluttered" look. "The concept of a Preview Pane sounds intriguing, but my initial tests lead me to conclude it’s a clunky and incomplete product. It breaks up my Gmail Labels in a way that keeps them from lining up with Gmail’s navigation pane, leading to a ugly and cluttered look. The standard two-pane system is cleaner, although you probably can get through more emails with Preview Pane activated," it said. — TJD, GMA News