Based on its name alone, you might think Gmail Notifier Pro is simply a notification service for Google's email service, something like Chrome extension Checker Plus. But you'd be wrong. Sure, this application will notify you of incoming Gmail messages, but it also does a whole lot more.

To get started with Gmail Notifier Pro, simply install it on your Windows PCs, and add the accounts you'd like it to manage. It supports various Google services, including Calendar, Reader, Drive, News, and Google +, as well as RSS/Atom feeds, Microsoft SkyDrive, Twitter, Yahoo Mail, Microsoft Outlook.com, and any IMAP or POP email account. The free demo version supports two accounts, while the $13 Personal License and $20 Commercial License let you add an unlimited number of accounts.

Once you've added the accounts, Gmail Notifier Pro runs in the background, and displays a small pop-up notification when changes have been made to one of your accounts. These changes include incoming email messages, Facebook friend requests and messages, calendar reminders, updates to documents stored in SkyDrive or Google Drive, and more.

In fact, the number of notifications can be overwhelming if you use Gmail Notifier Pro to manage numerous accounts, but it is easy to choose which information you'd like the application to display, and for how long.

As a notification service, Gmail Notifier Pro works great. It alerts you to incoming emails and other updates in a way that's not intrusive. At a quick glance, you can see whether an incoming message or update is important enough to interrupt your work. But that's not all it does: Gmail Notifier Pro also works as an email client, from which you can compose and send messages. Here, it stumbles just a bit. Sure, you can easily read messages and attachments, and composing them is a breeze, too. But the overall interface is not just not refined enough: It's too text-heavy and lacks the small details (such as a three-pane view) that the best email clients offer.

I wouldn't rely on Gmail Notifier Pro as an email client, but I do like the notifications it offers. It covers a wide range of services and works reliably.