Now that iGoogle has full-screen Gmail, weather, and other gadgets, you may start accessing more of your Google services from inside iGoogle. The iGoogle Header Remover Greasemonkey user script toggles the visibility of the iGoogle logo and search box to optimise your screen real estate so you can focus more on the new and improved full-screen interface. If you need to bring back the header for any reason—for example, to do a quick Google search, just click the Toggle header link. With the header collapsed, running full Gmail in iGoogle feels that much more like the default Gmail interface and you're not wasting all those pixels. iGoogle Header Remover is free, requires Firefox with Greasemonkey.

The Daily Gyan blog adds to the list of work-arounds to access Gmail at places where it's normally blocked—this time, by using the fully-functional gadget available in the "new" iGoogle. If you're willing to sign up as a "developer" to get an early preview of Google's reworked start page, as Adam explained how to do, you simply add the Gmail gadget, click the "maximize" button on it, and you've got a nearly complete inbox view. And since iGoogle comes from a Google.com URL, it's less likely to be blocked, unless, of course, the IT overlords in question are reading this right now.

Globex Designs releases version 2.0 of their Gmail Redesigned skin which fixes over 40 bugs and is speedier than ever. Expect an update to the Better Gmail 2 extension with the new Redesigned 2.0 version to hit your browser sometime tomorrow.

Editor: Being digital vagabonds without an Exchange server, we Lifehacker writers use online apps like Gmail and Google Calendar to get things done. But can an Outlook user make the switch without losing out? Guest contributor Jared Goralnick's here today to take a look.
Gmail launched in 2004 and has matured each year, but Microsoft Outlook (with Exchange) is still the most popular tool for accessing email. Comparing the two side by side, is it time to jump ship from either platform? Let's find out.

If you're using the new iGoogle since we took you on a screenshot tour and showed you how to enable it, you've now got a robust, full screen version of Gmail in iGoogle. Back when we toured the new iGoogle, we told you that full screen gadgets were coming but not yet available. Now the Gmail gadget can go full screen, and it looks and feels very much like regular old Gmail. You can read, compose, and archive email just as you would from Gmail (no labelling yet). Likewise, RSS feeds now look and feel very much like Google Reader.

Alex at the Google Operating System blog hears word that Google Calendar and Gmail will have Gears-supported offline modes in about six weeks, and a few users have already seen accidental offline prompts. Intriguing news, to say the least. Photo by NOTICIAS-TIC.

Gmail appears to be slowly rolling out a new feature in their Contacts application that allows the user to selectively determine whether or not you want to automatically add everyone you email to your contact list. You're likely to send and receive a lot of email in the course of a day, but if you would prefer to keep the people in your contacts list limited only to the people you add—which means a much cleaner, more streamlined list of real contacts as opposed to all 5000 you've accumulated with the old system—looks like you can now do that through the My Contacts pane. Like most things Gmail-related, Google appears to be rolling this out slowly. If you're seeing this new functionality in your account (we aren't yet), let's hear more about it in the comments. Thanks Matthew!

All things Google weblog Google Operating System details how to take full advantage of Gmail Superstars, a souped-up version of Gmail's standard yellow star available in previously mentioned Gmail Labs. When enabled, Gmail Superstars allows you to set the star to one of 12 different icons for more robust labelling via the previously single-function star icon. The really cool part? Gmail Superstars are incorporated into Gmail's advanced search, so you can use queries like:

Firefox with Greasemonkey only: The Google Contacts Autocomplete user script adds a drop-down of your Gmail contacts on any web-based email form where you'd enter an address. You must be signed into your Gmail account for the script to work; once it's installed, just start typing into an email text field to get search-as-you-type results from your Gmail address book. The first day or so it was installed, the script did nothing for me—then it magically started working (see screenshot)—so your mileage may vary. When it is working, this is a nifty way to access your contacts quickly and easily. The Google Contacts Autocomplete user script is a free download and requires Firefox with Greasemonkey. Thanks, Matt!

Weblog Daily Tech Update details how to use the Quick Links feature available in the recently released Gmail Labs to create quick access links to the media attachments in your Gmail account. The Quick Links tool makes it dead simple to turn any advanced search into a quick sidebar link, and the post details a few advanced searches to create Quick Links specifically for video and audio. I've also added my own YouTube videos Quick Link for any email containing a YouTube link (I simply used http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=* as my search). If you've taken advantage of the Gmail Labs Quick Links feature, let's hear how you're using it in the comments. For even more advanced Gmail media wrangling, check out previously mentioned Xoopit.