Goowy, Gmail Plus

While Gmail and it's 2 GB of email storage is great, I think we'll all agree it could do more. Like, a calendar would be nice. And while you're at it, how about some personalized content? Remember, I'm not getting those "web clippings" on my primary Gmail account. Goowy is to Gmail what Milk Plus was to milk in "Clockwork Orange." No, it doesn't have drugs in it. Goowy has 2 GB of storage for email and is also free. From there on out, it gets better...

Using Flash as the engine, Goowy (a play on GUI, get it?) pretends to be a desktop OS. There's a little "dock" at the bottom (apps even bounce as they "launch"). There's a moderately decent little RSS app, pictured above. You have stickies, a calendar, even games to play. The developers told me that use the same principles as Ajax, but had to use Flash instead. What's the business plan? Who cares? It's free and cool.

Goowy is still a little rough around the edges. Not everything is customizable (I can't seem to move my little widgets around the screen). There's no Mac desktop client. There is a Windows desktop client, which allows reminders, email notifiers, advanced RSS, and more. You don't have to use it at all, but it is also pretty keen. And built into all of this is a little Google search at the bottom. Is that how they're making money? Oh well, let's use it while it lasts. We're getting so close to having a real web-based app suite...

http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=160

 

Tags: freeware