Google has opened up a testing bed of sorts for Gmail users to check out new, unreleased features and provide feedback. Called Labs, it's sort of an early peek at the behind-the-scenes world of what Google's developers are working on. I decided to take it for a spin.

As with all things Google, some can access Labs, and some cannot. InformationWeek blogger Mitch Wagner decried his inability to check out Labs this afternoon via Twitter. Mitch, this one is for you...

In my main Gmail page, I noticed the bright red announcement that there are new features in Gmail to check out. I clicked on the link, and it took me to an introductory page about what Labs is, and what Labs does. It also provides some examples of the projects that Google has worked on.

You have to enable Labs in your Gmail settings. There are some nice big warnings that the new features aren't final products yet. The warnings read:

Gmail engineers come up with new ideas all the time. Gmail Labs is our place to try them out and get your feedback. None of these features are really ready for prime time yet, so they may change, break, or disappear at any time. If (when) a Labs feature breaks, and you're having trouble getting into your account, there's an escape hatch -- just go to http://mail.google.com/mail/?labs=0 and Labs will be temporarily disabled.

Below that is a list of 13 different "alpha" applications, including the name of the application and its author, followed by a description of what the feature does, and a screen shot to accompany it.

The first, for example, is called QuickLinks, by Dan P. The descriptions reads, "Adds a box to the left column that gives you one-click access to any bookmarkable URL in Gmail. You can use it for saving frequent searches, important individual messages, and more." You can choose to enable it, disable it, or send feedback.

I chose to enable one further down the list that allows you to see your picture and the pictures of your friends in GChat. At the bottom of the page, you have to save the new settings, and it takes you back to your main in-box. Once you've saved the settings, the new feature will appear. In the end, I disliked adding pictures to my chat boxes, so I disabled it. In the meantime, I'll test out some of the other features and see how they work. If I like them, or find them useful, I'll be sure to send a note to Google to let them know.

I look forward to seeing new and interesting features for Gmail and am excited about the idea of helping to test them out.