While I agree that there should be some control settings, I actually do want my entire archives stored. Modern hard drives give me more than enough space for it, and I can't think of an easier way to make a local backup, which we should all be doing anyway. :)

True. I guess what I'd like is just for the functionality of the Offline "app" to be folded into the standard Gmail "app," which I have installed in my Chrome, but is basically just a bookmark at this point. If they already have a well-propagated app, it seems to me that they might as well use it.

I do hope that requiring a separate "app" extension is a temporary solution, and that the main Gmail homepage will eventually support seamless local syncing via HTML5 (as Docs and Calendar apparently intend to do.)

So this is why Mac people keep asking us to port Rainmeter, then. ;)

I'd say 50MB is on the higher end for a typical theme.

Pleased to be of service. :) As for Litestep, I've sort of put that project in mothballs for the last few years. But if/when the LS people stop dragging their feet with regard to Windows 7 feature integration, I'll definitely give it another look.

Delighted to hear it! Just in time, too - the new update's almost ready to post. :)

Whitson, this is an outstanding piece. Rainmeter can be a complicated beast, and oftentimes difficult to understand, but you've explained it very clearly, and it's obvious that you've done your homework. I have no doubt that Lifehacker readers will get a lot of value out of this.

If you download and install Arcs from the link above, you should find an image in your Rainmeter\Skins\Arcs folder called "Legend.jpg" that explains what each meter represents.

I can't seem to make the vertical split work. The messages shows up at the bottom of the page, beneath the message list, leaving a bunch of white space on the right. I've disabled all Labs features other than Preview Pane, and it doesn't seem to matter which browser I use (Chrome, Firefox, Opera - I even tried…

I tell myself not to be greedy and enjoy what we've already been given... but that would be lovely.

I love it. This has been a much-needed and very well-executed overhaul for Google's services. (Here's hoping Docs and Reader are next in line.)

I use 5 core apps (browser, Voice, Gmail, TweetDeck, and Google Reader), along with about 7 frequently-used (Music, Trillian, Camera, Dropbox, Google Docs, Goggles and Earth). I make occasional use of others besides those 12, but nothing I'd miss.

Hm, I see. Seems to me that's less the fault of the browsers, and more of your webapps' developers failing to respect existing web standards, and instead shortsightedly tailoring things for the ephemeral usage cases of their particular clients.

Not being a business user, could you describe what features you think Chrome and Firefox are lacking for an enterprise context, compared to IE?

My story is similar: used Firefox since 2005, then switched to Chrome earlier this year. I still find Chrome to be noticeably faster and more responsive, even after upgrading to a brand new machine in March, and even when Chrome has a bunch of addons loaded and Firefox has none. And since I've found solid replacements…

A faster release cycle doesn't necessarily mean they're working slower. It just means we get to benefit from that work more frequently.

You can go to about:flags to enable Print Preview.

I'm afraid not, actually. Chrome releases a new stable version every six weeks, regardless of the magnitude of change. So the version number isn't determined by feature differences, but simply by time of release.

Anyone know why certain AIM contacts show as "Invited?" I thought it might be those who haven't logged into AIM since the change, but I have other contacts who I know haven't signed on in months, and they don't have that status. (And conversely, one of my "Invited" contacts was active in the last hour.)