If you're on OS X I would recommend Google Notifier for getting desktop alerts. http://toolbar.google.com/gmail-helper/notifier_mac.html http://toolbar.google.

If you're on OS X I would recommend Google Notifier for getting desktop alerts. http://toolbar.google.com/gmail-helper/notifier_mac.html http://toolbar.google.com/gmail-helper/notifier_mac.html I have to admit that I want the drag and drop functionality for assigning labels. I wonder if that is just a Greasemonkey script away.