Yahoo! is asking all e-mail customers to upgrade to the most up-to-date version of Yahoo! Mail. In an e-mail shared with the vast number of users, Senior Director of Yahoo! Mail Product Management David McDowell explained the basics of the switch: a faster, more responsive e-mail; the latest spam-protection technology; a simpler, more user-oriented interface; and an unlimited amount of storage.
The drawbacks, as explained by McDowell, are minimal. The new system requires Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 3, Safari 4, Chrome 5 or newer Internet browsers. While this may seem like a setback, users' Internet browsers can be easily updated at no cost.
As a Yahoo! Mail customer of five years, I've been through a few different changes with the e-mail system. I must admit, though, that this is the best I've seen yet.
The Layout
The first difference I noticed in the new e-mail system was the design itself. While the previous system was fairly simple and—in my opinion—bland, the new system offers an eye-popping contrast between the shades of purple and white mixed throughout the theme. The colors are very appealing to the eye and make the system appear more elegant and simplistic.
The Movement
As I navigated through the system, I realized that the movement and transitions were much smoother. As I clicked on one tab and then the next, the content on the screen changed almost instantaneously, and with little difficulty. This is an exceptional difference from the previous e-mail system, which was rather slow and somewhat choppy in movement.
The Presentation
While the options available are many of the basic options that were offered with the previous system, the way they are categorized and presented is in a more organized fashion. The system offers tabs at the top as well as options along the side of the content screen, deleting from some of the congestion seen in the pre-existing system.
User-Interface
The previous e-mail system in place by Yahoo! was rather tedious and, ultimately, hard to follow. The new one, alternatively, is fairly straightforward in the various actions that can be taken. Yahoo! Mail developers have taken a step to make their e-mail system more user-friendly, and in this customer's opinion, they have succeeded.
Overall, Yahoo! Mail's transition to the new e-mail system seems to be a great call. The old version got the job done, but it was old-school at best. While I continue to play with the options available to me, I am certainly satisfied with the changes that have been made.
Kelsey Apperson - Kelsey Apperson
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