Google Reader gets Facelift

Google's online feed reader Google Reader has been remodeled - and it may not please everyone. Their motto: square is the new round.

If you're a fan of the rounded web 2.0 look you'll find it a bit odd to revert back to a "square" design.
(I must confess, even I found it a bit weird in the first couple of minutes... but it didn't take long for me to adapt and actually prefer this new and streamlined reader.)

Check the "before" and "after" shots:

 

(before)

 

(after)

As you can see, instead of fooling around with rounded corners and background colors, the new look sets focus where it should: on the information itself.

But that's not all: you can now minimize sections to save screen area, and - finally - you're able to choose whether to show/hide unread counts.

Unfortunately, you can't sill collapse/minimize your tags. (Which is something I've been asking for since the start. I hate having a long list of tags that take all that space... maybe next time?)


I must admit, I've liked this new look so much that using Gmail with its "old" rounded look has now become annoying... and, if I can say so: oldfashioned!

Is this the beginning of a new trend that will lead us back to the "square" sites?