If you use Gmail and a Mac, Mailplane is a must have application. It’s really the first program I’ve seen that really takes a web based application to the desktop.

At it’s core, it’s really just a webkit browser (or so I assume) that shows Gmail. But then there is so much more. It has all Gmail features built into the application itself. Not only does it have a toolbar with all the standard buttons like new message, reply, forward and delete, but it also ties into iPhoto, has drag and drop attachment abilities, keychain support and Growl notifications. The latest version even works with GTalk to take it out of Gmail and into it’s own little window.

Overall, it’s much much more than a basic browser that just shows Gmail. If you remember GCal.app you might think that Mailplane is the same basic thing. However, it’s much much more!

Currently Mailplane is free once you get in the beta. Just sign up and you’ll get an invite to try it out eventually. 🙂

As far as issues go, my only one has already been fixed so I have no complaints. I would like to see Google Calendar built in somehow but that’s a wishful feature. I would also LOVE an application like this for Google Docs. Now that’d be extremely cool!!

Mailplane really is a very useful Gmail desktop application and one that will help revolutionize how web applications are perceived. They are much more than just a web app.