Hello Gmail Tasks, Bye Bye Remember The Milk

Since Remember The Milk came out with their Gmail integration, I have used it, even when their were blackouts when various features didn't work (in particular, the 'starring' of emails to create RTM tasks linked to the emails seemed to break every other week). I had thought that Google would be smart to scoop up Remember The Milk and integrate it more tightly to Gmail.

Well, Google has simply knocked off the basic structure of RTM's Gmail integration and launched it as Gmail Tasks, as of today.

The implementation of Gmail Tasks owes a lot to the GTalk implementation in Gmail. By clicking on the new Tasks navigation, below Contacts, a tombstone style window opens from the bottom of the browser window, just like the Gtalk window. And the same option to pop the window out is provided, as is the minimize/maximize toggle.

Tasks are displayed in line with check boxes denoting whether they are open or closed. Here's my task list with the Actions menu popped up.

Gmail tasks, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

You can see that the list elements can be indented into subtasks, or reordered, either by using the Actions menu operations or using keystrokes if that is enabled in your Gmail settings.

A task's details can be edited by clicking on the expand caret to the right, which allows setting a date for the task (only by selecting from a calendar, though), or related notes.

Gmail Tasks, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

There is no capability at the present to share tasks or assign them to others, a feature that RTM supports but I have used rarely. I think if it were integrated in some way like sharing Google Calendar events, I would use that a lot more. Also, Tasks, even when dated, do not show on Google Calendar, at this time.

You can't set a time of day for a task, and there doesn't seem to be a reminder setup yet, either.

The most important feature from Remember The Milk's Gmail integration is replicated in Gmail Tasks: assigning a task to an email in Gmail. This is accomplished by a new option on the Gmail More Actions menu:

Gmail tasks, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

When an email is open or selected, and the Add To Tasks option is slected, you get a task with a link to the email:

Gmail tasks, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

The Related Email text is a link to the email. This means that my now standard mode of dealing with email -- throwing away the crap, answering emails that require little cogitation right away, and assigning dated tasks to others -- can be supported by Gmail Tasks.

Finally, Gmail supports multiple task lists, as shown in the bottom right tombstone menu in the image above. Therefore, you can segregate your errands from a client project.

I am switching my tasks over from RTM, right now.