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Here’s the best way to make Gmail as awesome as you remember it

Published Jul 16th, 2014 12:21PM EDT
Best Chrome Extensions Old Compose

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When Gmail was first launched, it was the best thing to happen to email in just about forever. Over the years, though, Google started tinkering with it to the point where it became less and less like the clean, distraction-free interface that we all fell in love with a decade ago. Thankfully for us, the team at Old Compose have just completely rebuilt their Chrome and Firefox extensions to give you the best way yet to make Gmail just as awesome as you remember it by bringing back the big compose window that Google unceremoniously dumped last year.

While there are several other extensions that bring back the big compose window, the team at Old Compose have been working tirelessly over the past year to make sure their extension lets you use Gmail exactly as you want it so you can install Old Compose and still use all your other favorite third-party plugins such as Rapportive, Streak, Boomerang, and Yesware. Old Compose has also been working with Google to make sure that its extension plays nicely with new features that it has added to Gmail so that you won’t even notice any differences other than the big, beautiful window.

“Old Compose was built from scratch as opposed to other solutions which simply trick the browser into thinking you are using Internet Explorer 8,” Old Compose explains.

You can download the newly rebuilt Old Compose for both Chrome and Firefox by clicking on the source links below. Also be sure to check out this blog post where Old Compose founders Eugene Leychenko and Greg Brooks explain how they’ve been working nonstop over the past year to make their extension better than ever before.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.