First, a disclaimer: I like the current version of Gmail, which Google started to preview last summer and then rolled out in November. I found the old one insufferably cramped and claustrophobic, and am positive that the airier design of the new one helps me work more productively.
But a lot of folks are still pining for the less-white-space incarnation of Google, and are bemoaning the fact that Google is removing the ability to choose it over the new one.
One of them is blogger Jason Crawford, and he’s come up with some useful tips for rejiggering the interface to give it more of an old-Gmail feel.
I’m not nostalgic in the least for the last version of Gmail, but I still found useful stuff in Crawford’s post: I didn’t know, for instance, that it was possible to ditch the “Web Clip” one-line ads that sit atop your inbox. Now I do, and I have.