Someone should check the thermostat in Hades, because I never thought I’d see this day. Google announced this morning that Google Apps, the corporate and public versions of its popular mail, calendar, chat and document software, no longer wear the beta tag.
Since its launch on April 1st, 2004, Gmail has worn the ‘beta’ tag, even after adoption by millions of home and business users and over 5 years of development.
Speculation has been rampant as to when it would finally leave beta status. A five-year development cycle isn’t the norm for almost any software, unless you’re developing ground-breaking, world-changing games, and many mocked Google for using ‘beta’ as a crutch for so long.
It’s about time. Welcome to Release Candidate land, Google. Now, can we talk about integrating custom signatures and mail templates? Love, Ryan.

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Ryan Meray
I am still seeing bet tag in my gmail account. Are they maybe postponing the release status?
I just hit F5 and there the beta tag was gone!
I can’t stand tags give me my folders
Labels are great. They finally improved them in a recent update to hide ones you don’t need to see all the time. Maybe someday they’ll add nesting, but I’ll take multi-labeling relevant emails over an awful nested folder tree any day of the week.
We’ve been using Apps for years now… Love it. Wouldn’t switch back unless they started charging!