Also known as Gmail, is the core of Google Workspace. It's a free, advertising-supported email service provided by Google. Users may access Gmail as secure webmail,[1] as well via POP3 or IMAP protocols.[2][3] Gmail was launched as an invitation-only beta release on April 1, 2004[4] and it became available to the general public on February 7, 2007, though still in beta status at that time.[5] The service was upgraded from beta status on July 7, 2009, along with the rest of the Google Workspace.[6][7] With an initial storage capacity offer of 1 GB per user, Gmail significantly increased the webmail standard for free storage from the 2 to 4 MBits competitors such as Hotmail offered at that time.[8] Individual Gmail messages, including attachments, may be up to 25 MB,[9] which is larger than many other mail services support. Gmail has a search-oriented interface and a "conversation view" similar to an Internet forum. Gmail is noted by web developers for its pioneering use of AJAX.[10] Gmail runs on Google GFE/2.0 on Linux.[11][12][13]
