Yes, I agree the new interface is a killer(as in bad). But Gmail/Google's ease of use is its USP. You can have chat in browser, GTalk, Adium, Android , Pidgin

Yes, I agree the new interface is a killer(as in bad). But Gmail/Google's ease of use is its USP. You can have chat in browser, GTalk, Adium, Android , Pidgin and all then synced to mail box. You can have calendar everywhere, taks..you name it. So, until some business - like FastMail, PoBox, come up with such close integration I don't think there's much sense to move other than privacy and paranoia. Because once outside you end up setting up a workflow dependent on very different services and worry which one is gonna break when and then look for sth else.