Gmail is just like any email provider, but there are a lot of functions that people have not discovered. There are many great ways to take advantage of the functions gmail provides. So if you have a gmail this might be of your interest. There are many more functions then the ones mentioned here. Just log in to your gmail and go to settings and discover what gmail has to offer.
Use stars to indicate a note is special. Search your mail instead of sorting. Instead of sorting by date or sender, you can enter keywords in the Gmail search box to find the exact message you're looking for. It works just like Google search: if you're looking for a message that contains the word "shopping," simply type shopping in the search box and press Search Mail.
Use stars to easily mark certain messages as important or indicate that you need to reply to them later. 
Import your email and contacts from your old address.
If you're new to Gmail, you can import your mail and contacts from other email providers, including Yahoo!, Hotmail, AOL, and many more.
Select a theme.
Choose from over 30 options to personalize your inbox. Go to the Themes tab under Settings and pick a theme.
Talk face-to-face with video chat.
Have a face-to-face conversation or audio if you don't have a webcam with any of your contacts.
Preview attachments without downloading them.
Preview an attached document instead of downloading and opening it in a separate page. Click the "View" or "View as HTML" link to preview.
Get through mail faster with keyboard shortcuts.
Enable keyboard shortcuts in Settings and use simple keys to navigate up and down within your inbox. There are a whole list of shortcuts for keyboard.
Send SMS text messages right from Gmail.
Keep the conversations going with a Labs feature that lets you send SMS text messages right from Gmail. Enable it in Labs under Settings, and then typing a phone number in the chat box search window.
