UPDATE:

After having a little chat with two people connected to Google's operations, I have been sent the following link:

Sign up for GMail via SMS

GMail will continue to be in BETA for the near future at least. Only more and more people will be allowed to register for it.

As can be seen in the HELP / FAQ, this is open only to residents of the USA with a cell phone.

Hey guys... MY MAILBOX'S BIGGER THAN YOURS!

Uh, anyways... yes, I have GMail myself, and it's a great e-mail program. I have 2500-some MB of space, and I never have to worry about deleting a thing. You can also import your contacts from another e-mail service to GMail, so it's very cool. Thing is, for anyone who's interested, I have 46 invites left. As of right now, the only way to get GMail for yourself is from invite from someone who has it. So... if you're really interested in getting the great e-mail program known as GMail... perhaps all you might have to do is ask...

For me also Gmail is still BETA. There is also an invite box in my Gmail. And today I have found that I have 100 invites instead of 50. Have anybody else has found it???
Anyway it does not mean than Gmail is in BETA mode or not. It is the best.

are there any drawbacks to GMail? i keep hearing all these great things about it, but never any drawbacks... i get really tired of people always changing their emails and im fairly happy with the one i have now... if im going to change, i need to know the pros and cons of it....

Pros:
1. Tons of space (more than 2.5 mb of the stuff)
2. Very clean and tidy (white background; some varying colors)
3. No annoying ads (just little teeny ads to the side that correlate with your e-mail)
4. Invites to taunt your friends with (hehe)

Cons:
1. You feel ashamed that you're not paying Google for such a service.

And there it is, your pros & cons... when are you switching?

sounds good.... anyone should feel free to hit me up with a teaser.... LOL....

sickgrrl723@hotmail.com

Hey SickGrrl, why don't 'ya check your e-mail?

hey, thanks for that! im totally going to sign up now....

how come ? the BETA sign is still there under Gmail

and they're not allowing sign-ups directly

How come what? How come Gmail is still Beta? How come Gmail no longer allows anyone to sign up directly?

Simply put, there was a beta-testing occuring; obviously, the point was to see how many sign-ups and registers occured and move from there. Now, the beta-testing for sign-ups are done and they probably want to see how the users prefer it. That, and they probably notice how many invites are occuring. But other than that, you might as well beg for someone to invite you...

It's like an Gmail Club bouncer - hehe...