I guess pretty much all of you must have seen the new updated Gmail user interface.

There are several annoyances I am facing with it currently. The biggest one is the mail selection which is now presented through a drop down rather than through direct links. This change has become a major usability nightmare for me now.

I also dislike the new compose button which is well too highlighted now. Very distracting for someone like me.

But one thing that has been very impressive is that Gmail has become much faster for me with this update. I am not sure if this is just a placebo effect. But it is very smooth for me now. I had started using the Flaky Connection mode with Offline Gmail to get a similar effect earlier. But now, I get seriously improved performance on regular mode.

No one else I know can confirm this performance improvement aspect. What about you guys?