Now that the Big Boy at Google — Sergey Brin — has given the hint that Google may be all set to introduce a PRO version of GMail, I thought I better write down my wishlist.

Actually, it is more of a checklist of what I’d do if I owned GMail and I was in-charge of introducing a PRO Version of this killer-app.

Here are the 7 things that I’d suggest err. no actually beg Google to keep in mind while introducing GMail Pro –

1. Don’t take away any feature from the current version. There is no better way to piss off your current userbase than taking away the features that they have now. If you strip down or completely take away what you have given with your free-accounts then people will feel “used” and helpless.

I know that some of your features are indeed server intensive but if you give that as an excuse to make people upgrade to the pro version then you are going to have a backlash from your current client base and I am sure that you don’t want that.

2. Keep it subtle. Don’t ever — I mean EVER — hard-sell the pro-version to your existing customers. In fact, I’d recommend that you don’t even do that for your new accounts.

Let people know that you indeed offer a more powerful version and it is there for them to purchase if they want it. And, don’t ever make this obtrusive.

3. I am okay with ads. Yes, I don’t mind ads to keep the cost of pro-version low. I am sure a lot of other people also wouldn’t mind it. =D

4. Don’t ever stop innovating for free version. I am sure that you will want to offer A LOT of exclusive features for PRO version to temp people into upgrading it. But don’t ever stop introducing new features for your free version also.

The reason why I love GMail is that the development team actually understands what I need and keeps evolving to make it better. Don’t ever stop doing that! Because if you do, that would be a really efficient way to piss off your free-account users, which I am sure are a fair bit in number and will always stay the majority.

5. Google Apps should remain affordable. =D That’s on the top of my wishlist because I have my personal domain hosted at Google Apps to power my personal lord@lordbrar.com account. I am sure there are quite a few others like me who would pay for it but not a “corporate level” pricing.

6. Introduce a central interface. Where I have an integrated view of GMail and Google Calendar. Something like outlook today. And oh, please introduce more extensive contact management feature — something like what outlook offers.

7. Don’t make it a US only thing (AKA Why I will never pay for Yahoo Mail PRO). GMail didn’t exist back then and the PRO Version of Yahoo Mail offered me what I wanted — I would have upgraded my account in a blink. But guess what? They didn’t want me. It was and still is a US only feature. DON’T DO THAT GOOGLE.

Anyway folks, those are my suggestions for Google to keep in mind when they introduce the PRO Version of GMail. If you also have wishlist for GMail PRO, feel free to leave a comment. =D