14 DAY TRIAL // It's safe to say that search is pretty important to Google, even as it's moved way beyond just search. The search in Gmail though hasn't exactly been on par with the main search engine.
It's not bad, but it could be better. And it is getting better, a couple of weeks ago the autocomplete feature was enabled for 47 more languages, making it international.
Now, it's improving on that by adding autocomplete in Advanced Search as well, in the From: and To: fields. This way, you'll find it easier to find the contacts you need.
But that's just a minor improvement, Gmail is also getting several other enhancements thanks to a few labs experiments that are being graduated and given "default feature" status.
Refresh POP accounts
One new feature that used to be a lab gadget is Refresh POP accounts. As the name suggests, the feature enables you to refresh any email account you linked into Gmail.
Specifically, when you click the "refresh" link in your inbox, Gmail will check for new messages from your Gmail account but also any other account you configured to deliver mail into the Gmail client.
Few people actually use Gmail this way, partly because it's not the best client for other email accounts, but for the ones that do, the feature should come in handy.
Export and import custom filters
Also new is the ability to export your custom filters in a file, for backup or to share with friends. You can also import a file defining filters, which means you can create a large set of rules manually, in one go, upload them to Gmail and enable them all at the same time. This also used to be a labs experiment.
Navbar drag and drop
Finally, the last labs experiment to graduate enables you to rearrange your navbar gadgets via drag and drop. Obviously, this makes it easier to customize your left sidebar to have it looking and working just how you like it.