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Yahoo has launched a test of the new version of its Web mail service, which includes a radically redesigned user interface that works more like a typical desktop e-mail application.

The beta version of the new Yahoo Mail will be made available to an undisclosed number of U.S. users on Wednesday and to more users in the coming months, a Yahoo official said.

The company declines to estimate publicly when the new service will be generally available in final form to all users, but it intends to avoid having a prolonged beta period, according to Ethan Diamond, director of product management for Yahoo Mail.

Users who receive the beta version will be able to toggle between it and their current version, and changes they make in either version will automatically be reflected on the other, Diamond said.

The new service is based on technology that Yahoo acquired in July 2004 when it bought Oddpost, and its only requirement is that users access it with either Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser (version 5.5 or higher) or the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox browser (version 1.0 or higher), Diamond said. No additional software is required, he said.

New Features

Some of the new Yahoo Mail's user interface features have been common for years in e-mail desktop applications but rare in Web mail services. These include the ability to drag-and-drop messages into folders, a pane for previewing messages' content, the ability to keep multiple message windows open, and keyboard shortcuts for such actions as creating and deleting messages.

Other features described by Diamond include an advanced search functionality for searching through headers, attachment content, and message bodies; and the ability to scroll through all messages in a folder, instead of having a folder's messages split up among multiple pages that the user must move through.

Yahoo will progressively add other features present in the current version of Yahoo Mail, such as advanced functionality for managing, organizing, and transmitting photo files, Diamond said.

Like its predecessor, the new service will be free in its basic form; a fee-based option will offer more storage and some additional features.

Beyond Mail

The improved Yahoo Mail reflects Yahoo's realization that Web mail services have evolved from simple personal mailboxes into information management applications that people use to store and organize content such as digital songs, photos, video, and content syndication feeds, said Allen Weiner, a Gartner analyst.

"In essence, Yahoo realized that the format or application of its current mail product wasn't suitable as a real content management vehicle," he said. "It's a very dramatic step when you change [to this extent] the metaphor of your Web mail service."

Weiner sees the potential for Yahoo to introduce advanced features on top of the set contained in the beta version. For example, Yahoo might add features for accessing and managing content syndication feeds into Yahoo Mail, he said. "I think a lot of what is important about it is not necessarily what we're seeing [today] but what's most likely to come," Weiner said.

People interested in signing up for the beta can let Yahoo know here.