Well, that only took five years for no apparent reason.

Google finally removed the “Beta” label off of Gmail today, and while the entire tech blogosphere seemed to dance a collective jig, does it really matter to your average user?

Not really.

When Gmail launched on March 21st, 2004, it was called a “Beta” which is computer jargon for “if something doesn’t work correctly, you can’t yell at us because it’s in Beta.”  It’s like an immediate escape hatch for any computer program or service.

While the removal of the label doesn’t really mean anything to your every day user, it does make a difference to corporations as they are immediately leery of anything with the “Beta” label.  Considering Google removed the label at the same time from its Google Aps division, the corporate version of Gmail, this frees up the service to used by many more corporations.  Will they actually use it is the question, but now they have the option.

In short, no more “Beta” on Gmail, but like I said, to your average user it never even mattered so… enjoy the non-event?