Offline goes mainstream in Gmail/Google Apps

Today Google announced that the ‘Offline’ module has graduated from Labs. That means that the offline feature is mature enough to be used by the average users, and not just the early adopters.

For those of you who do not know what offline-mode in Gmail/Google Apps is, it is a feature that allows you to access all your emails even when not connected to the internet. A few weeks ago, Google introduced support for attachments in Offline mode, which makes it a very powerful ‘email client’ even in offline mode.

It is not hard to understand why Google is spending significant resources on improving this feature, as it ties in very well with Chromium OS and allows you to use your email client on your netbook without internet access.

To get started Offline mode, log into your Gmail and take the following steps:

Click the “Settings” link in the top-right corner of Gmail.
Click the “Offline” tab.
Select “Enable Offline Mail for this computer.”
Click “Save Changes” and follow the directions from there.