Gmail Counter

Gmail Counter is a Vista gadget that checks your Gmail account at a user-defined time interval. This way, you can carry on with your usual activity and stop checking your email account in web browsers every few minutes.
The interface is made from a small frame with a modern and attractive look. After setting up your Gmail account credentials, you can select the refresh rate (between 1 and 30 minutes), enable sound notifications and select the sound type.
In addition, you can modify the gadget color by selecting one of the seven options, as well as make Gmail Counter check for email on mouseover. Furthermore, you can bring up Gmail.com in your default web browser, by double-clicking the main frame.
Thanks to the built-in Windows options, you can also make the frame stay on top of other windows, as well as adjust its opacity.
The small widget does not put a strain on system resources, since it runs on a very low amount of CPU and RAM. It has a good response time and works well. However, Gmail Counter has not been updated for a long time, and it does not function properly on newer OS platforms.