Review: Give Gmail an extreme makeover with Gmail Offline

The Web interface for Gmail has a very distinct look. Your office mates can probably recognize it at a glance. This Chrome extension, however, might cause a few double-takes in your office: Gmail Offline, an extension by Google, puts a completely different face on Gmail, making it more similar to the tablet version used on Android tablets.

Even if you're working while connected, you may appreciate Gmail Offline's clean, uncluttered looks.

To me, Gmail Offline is somewhat of a misnomer: Yes, the extension makes it possible to use Gmail without an Internet connection. When you are offline, it allows you to read your mail and write replies in an Outbox where messages are saved, and then sent as soon as you're connected. But the most noticeable thing about Gmail Offline is that it doesn't even look like Gmail. It features a dual-pane interface, where you can toggle the left pane to show either messages or labels. The right side shows the current thread, so you can quickly move between email conversations. This split view is now available on Gmail's regular Web interface, but the aesthetic is completely different. Whereas the regular Gmail is flat and minimalistic, the Offline version is much more colorful, with subtle gradients and large, chunky buttons.

Gmail Offline can either be used as an alternative Gmail interface while connected, or as an offline client.

Gmail Offline supports keyboard shortcuts, so many of the shortcuts you learn with KeyRocket will serve you with this version of Gmail too. The regular version of Gmail supports far more shortcuts, but many of the essentials are here, too: You can compose a new message, reply, forward, archive, and more – all using the keyboard. Most of the missing shortcuts are for functions that Gmail Offline doesn't have, like chat. Overall, it’s an excellent addition to the regular Gmail client, and a new way to approach using a tool you probably use every day.

Note: The Download button takes you to the Chrome Web store, where you can install the latest version directly into your Chrome browser.

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AIDA64 Extreme Edition Has an Extremely Large Variety of Benchmarks

How much do you know about your computer? Even if you're a power user, chances are you know less than you think. Most geeks can break down the basics--CPU, RAM, video card, OS, etc. but the deeper you go, the harder the questions are to answer. What are your current memory timings? What extended instructions does your CPU support? What's the product ID for your motherboard? Instead of reaching for the manual, booting into BIOS, or interrogating Google for the details, there's another answer: Finalwire's AIDA64 Extreme Edition.

AIDA64's stress test is worth its weight in gold.Now in its third incarnation after nearly a decade of development, AIDA64 is comprehensive system information and benchmarking suite designed to lay bare every conceivable aspect of your computer. Multiple versions cater to different markets; the initial 30 day trial version of each can be unlocked into either Extreme ($40) or Business ($80/5 nodes) editions. Extreme focuses on enthusiasts and performance computing while Business provides IT network inventory functions and can scan several systems at once. We took a look at the Extreme edition for this review.

AIDA64 Extreme is presented Microsoft Management Console-style, with a single window containing two panes of nested commands and data. The left pane lists the available tools and the right pane displays the results of each query or operation. Most of these are informational, breaking down each of your computer's subsystems by hardware component or software module and allowing you to drill down to details you never imagined were readily accessible, such as your DIMMs’ serial numbers or how many reboots you've performed since your desktop went live.

Beyond the audit, several benchmarking tools provide data on CPU, hard disk and memory performance. AIDA64 ranks and compares results against a comprehensive database of other systems past and present giving you context for your results. While the memory tests are well regarded by enthusiasts, the real gem here is a flexible system stability tool that allows users to stress test main components in any combination desired while tracking system temperatures, voltages and fan speeds via graphs that are updated in real time. Overclockers will find this indispensable, as few tools combine these features.

Problems are few but noteworthy. First, there's no way to measure 3D performance, a curious omission given the otherwise comprehensive nature of the suite. Price is the second factor. With no free version beyond the 30-day trial license, $40 is the minimum buy-in for AIDA64. SiSoft's Sandra, a similar system information and benchmarking suite, has a free version with many of the features found here, although it lacks the stress tests. This price may hurt AIDA64's appeal, but it doesn't take away from its utility or unique function. Take the trial out for a spin. The stress tests may be worth the price alone for hardware enthusiasts.

--Jim Norris

Industry leading system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for enthusiasts PC users, based on the award-winning AIDA Technology. Exhaustive details of system information on 100 pages including CPU, FPU, disk and memory benchmarks, advanced hardware monitoring and diagnostics capabilities.

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Check Point ZoneAlarm Extreme Security 2012 Review: A Middling Antimalware Utility

Check Point's ZoneAlarm Extreme Security 2012 ($80 for one year and three PCs as of January 25, 2012) rounds out the top ten in our 2012 roundup of security suites. Like several of the other lower-ranking products we tested, the suite isn’t bad, but it’s merely very good while the top performers are great.

ZoneAlarm fully blocked 92.3 percent of live attacks in our real-world tests, which help determine how well a security suite can stop brand-new malware. That isn't a bad showing, but it does lag slightly below the average for the suites we looked at. It detected 99.17 percent of known malware samples; although that result would have been strong one year ago, this year it's merely average.

This suite wasn’t especially good at cleanup, either: Despite detecting all infections on our test PC, it disabled only 90 percent of them. A year ago, that would have been a great outcome, but most products we tested this time around successfully disabled all test infections. ZoneAlarm removed all malware components just 40 percent of the time, too, tying for last in that test. Fortunately, it didn't flag a single safe file as being potentially malicious.

Even though ZoneAlarm had a moderate impact on system performance on the whole, it added a staggering 24 seconds to our PC’s shutdown time (compared with how long the system took with no antivirus software installed), easily landing at the back of the pack in that particular test. It was also one of the worst performers in our app-installation test--it added 72 seconds to the completion time, which is about 28 seconds longer than the average.

Scan speeds were mixed: ZoneAlarm required 2 minutes, 53 seconds to finish our on-demand test, which shows how quickly a suite can complete a manually initiated scan of 4.5GB. This showing was second-slowest result we saw in the 2012 test group. Its on-access scanner took 3 minutes, 45 seconds to plow through 4.5GB of data, which was the third-best result we saw this year. Since the on-access scanner runs when you open or save a file, it's a little more important than the manual on-demand scan, so we were happy to see that ZoneAlarm performed well in this area, at least.

Check Point did reasonably well on the interface. The main screen gives you a good idea of whether your PC is protected, and sections are nicely arranged and fairly easy to use. It has slider controls that make it easy to toggle features on and off, as well. The settings screens are decent, but inconsistent at times. One in particular--the Antispam settings window--looks like a holdover from an older version of ZoneAlarm software, and it doesn't work the way the other panels do.

On the plus side, ZoneAlarm Extreme Security comes with a few extra features, such as credit report monitoring, which you may find useful. At the same time, though, it lacks some features that are common in other suites, and its support options appear to be scant.

If you already use ZoneAlarm products and like them, you should upgrade to this newest version. Otherwise, while ZoneAlarm Extreme Security 2012 is a good all-around package, you should consider some of the higher-ranking suites first.

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