If you’re moving from Microsoft Exchange and Outlook to the 100% web world of Google Apps and Gmail, you probably realize that you’re in for quite a few changes. A new interface for your inbox and logging in through a web browser are two of the basic changes that take some getting used to.

But what many people don’t realize is all of the new features and capabilities that Gmail and Google Apps offer. The entire system of Google Apps is geared towards collaboration, search, and access that’s not dependent on location or device.

Here are some helpful tips for the core areas of the Google Apps suite.

Gmail

While it’s possible to use Outlook to view your Gmail account, we highly recommend that you access Gmail from your browser (and specifically, Chrome). Accessing Gmail through a browser allows you to take advantage of a number of Gmail’s coolest features, like Priority Inbox.

Here are some great videos to watch as you make the transition into Gmail from Outlook:

Beginner – How to use Labels to Organize and Customize Your Inbox

Intermediate – How to use Basic and Advanced Search

Gooru – How to setup Priority Inbox

For IT admins – Advanced Gmail Labs Management in the Control Panel

Docs

While Gmail is still email at its core, Google Docs is more of a paradigm shift from the world of Word and Excel. While some Google Apps customers retain the Word and Excel programs for specific use-cases, Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets work perfectly for about 95% of an average user’s needs. And once you get used to the collaboration capabilities of Google Docs, you’ll want to work in Docs as much as possible.

Beginner – Adding a Google Doc to Multiple Collections

Intermediate – How to Tag Contacts in a Comment in Google Docs

Gooru – How to Get Alerts When Google Docs Are Edited Using WatchDoc

For IT admins – How to create a mail merge using Google Apps Script & Google Forms

Chat

While there are certainly chat clients you can use in the Microsoft world, chat will become a much bigger part of your day-to-day work life in Google Apps. That’s because chat is embedded in Gmail and integrated into every nook and cranny of the Google Apps suite.

Beginner – Introduction to Google Chat

Intermediate – How to Chat Off the Record

Gooru – Chatting from the People Widget

For IT admins – How to use the Apps Butler from FlashPanel (3rd-party tool)