The new Gmail's focus on whitespace, hiding buttons that don't do anything yet (until you check things of course), the new compose panel (with ultra-minimalistic controls and send to/from fields), Google's removal of the black bar, the auto-overflow for labels, lack of borders, lack of "containers," etc. etc. all convince me of Gmail's minimalism.
Just about the only thing that isn't minimal about it anymore is the footer.
Compared to native email apps with excessive amounts of panes, buttons, sorters, etc., Gmail is minimalistic nirvana.
http://i.imgur.com/XiwAn8U.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/YSBK5us.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/8Acgrn1.png
vs
http://i.imgur.com/RMg8UPY.png
Hell, even compare Gmail today to how it used to look:
http://i.imgur.com/fHQjL0n.png
The new Gmail's focus on whitespace, hiding buttons that don't do anything yet (until you check things of course), the new compose panel (with ultra-minimalistic controls and send to/from fields), Google's removal of the black bar, the auto-overflow for labels, lack of borders, lack of "containers," etc. etc. all convince me of Gmail's minimalism.
Just about the only thing that isn't minimal about it anymore is the footer.