GMail Increases Attachment Limit; Goes Open; Out of Beta?

Google GMail increased the attachment limit of individual emails to 20MB. On the other hand the total space inches closer to 3 GB; it is currently at 2857 MB of which I am using only 3%.

I had other bloggers waxing eloquent about the convenience of GMail. While I occassionally use GMail, I cannot ever imagine it to be a substitute for Mozilla Thunderbird or Evolution. GMail still has miles to go before it can seriously compete with desktop email clients like Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird. What do you think?

BTW: GMail is now totally free for all; no invitations required. Looks like they are finally prepared to come out of perpetual beta.