It seems a little faster, but it's got image ads all over the place.

(Disclaimer: I work for Google, but not on Gmail.)

Edit: No, after rechecking Gmail's web interface (I use IMAP from home), it seems about the same speed. I'm not sure why someone would think it's better.

It's quicker and snappier. It has tasking, a better contact manager, and a full scheduler. It feels like a desktop application, and doesn't have any of the odd performance delays and quirks that you see with Java apps.

And I'll guarantee AOL/MSFT wrote it in a fraction of the time it took Google.