If you've been having trouble deciding between Outlook with hosted Exchange and Gmail, then you need to read Lifehacker's head-to-head to comparison. It is one of the most thorough reviews I've read in quite a while.

Jared Goralnick does a really good job comparing different features, addresses mobile users needs, hosted Exchange, and brings out the finer details that makes each solution stand out.

I don't agree with some of his conclusions regarding threaded discussion, folders and contacts, and was disappointed he didn't address Outlook's integrated calendars, but for the most part, I found that he was spot on and agreed with his overall conclusion.

Now, this is AWESOME!

I just noticed Gmail Labs show up in my Gmail settings. So, I clicked through and turned on a new lab feature called Mouse Gestures. Basically, by pressing your pen button or mouse right button you can navigate through your emails: right to go to the next conversation, left to the previous conversation, and up to go back to the inbox view. It works awesome on a Tablet PC, and is quite nifty for use while in slate mode.

To use with your pen and Tablet PC, make sure your button set to be used a right mouse click. See the Pen and Input Devices section in the Control Panel.

If you don't have Gmail Labs active yet, be patient. It should be there soon.

I've been using FireFox for my main browser for a while now and have been happy with most everything about the browser.  One feature that has really helped the transition (because of my 'day job') is the IE Tab extension.  That allows me to have about everything I use daily work properly.

I also have been using Better Gmail and today I did the update to the newest Better Gmail 2 and there is a very cool Gmail skin in there now.  Puts an interesting look on Gmail - not to fancy, but not the same bland Gmail (though there is something to be said about the standard look - clean and simple and productive.

Any other Greasemonkey scripts or add-ons you would suggest?

We have many readers who follow David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology for task, project, and email management. I've read his book several times, and also enjoy corresponding with good friend and GBM reader Eric Mack, who is a well-known productivity and GTD consultant.

Well, I just read a post over on Web Worker Daily about a free Firefox add-on that aims to bring the GTD philosophy to Gmail + Firefox users: GTDInbox. What I love about this Firefox addon is how it seamlessly integrates into Gmail, bringing integrated task management to an email application that desperately needs it.

From the GTDInbox website:

Faster Daily Use of Gmail

• Do your most common functions within one or two intuitive clicks using a new popup command box that lets you preview, archive, delete or modify labels on your emails.

Turn email into tasks

• Mark emails as actions to be completed and give them a priority. Process actions by project, context or person.

Browse Gmail as a personal information database

• Categorise actions, communication and resources (e.g. files, meeting plans, invoices) into meaningful clusters - such as by project, context or contact - for easier information discovery and retrieval later.

I'm going to play with GTDInbox over the coming weeks. I'd encourage you to check it out, too, if you are a Gmail and Firefox user, and looking to get control over your email inbox.