The Office of Information Technologies (OIT) said they have migrated all student e-mail accounts from Webmail to Google Apps as of Wednesday.
The Google Apps accounts for all incoming students have been functioning since the beginning of the semester, but the process of migrating the existing student accounts has taken longer to complete.
Nonetheless, OIT project director Katie Rose said the migration process has been a success.
"Migration of student e-mail to the Google Apps service has gone extremely well," Rose said Wednesday.
Rose said most students have not encountered problems in making the switch.
"A handful of students experienced some problems switching to Gmail, but overall the move has gone very smoothly, and the feedback from students has been very positive," Rose said.
Many students have been calling the OIT Help Desk to ask questions about the migration to Google, Rose said.
All student Webmail accounts were automatically switched to Gmail accounts on Wednesday morning, Rose said.
"All new e-mail messages for students are now delivered to Notre Dame Gmail, so all students actually did switch over the morning of Sept. 3," Rose said. "Any students who did not change their password prior to Sept. 3 only need to change their password at password.nd.edu to gain access to their e-mail."
OIT will send additional e-mails throughout the semester to remind students to move any old messages to Google Apps that might still be on the Webmail system as soon as possible, Rose said.
Senior Adebola Giwa said he had not been paying attention to e-mails sent by OIT which informed students of the migration to Google Apps.
"I've been getting a lot of e-mails about [the migration], but I haven't been paying attention to them," he said. Giwa said that he received another e-mail Wednesday informing him that any new e-mails would be sent to his Gmail account.
Since he already had another e-mail account with Gmail, Giwa said the switch from Webmail to Google Apps is a welcome change.
"I like Gmail because I can send larger documents," he said. "With Webmail, I could only send smaller documents such as school assignments."
Senior Allison Lang said migrating to Google Apps was a smooth transition.
"It's been working really well. I made the switch to Gmail right away when OIT sent out the e-mail," Lang said. "It is easier to use and will probably be a lot better than Webmail which was crashing all the time."
Additionally, Lang also said the increased quota on Google Apps makes it easier for her to exchange pictures, e-mails and videos with her friends.
The Google Apps e-mail system has a 6.5 GB e-mail quota, which is markedly larger than 100 MG Webmail system.
Lang also said she has been using the calendar feature on Gmail to keep her appointments in order.
In addition to the calendar system, Google Apps also features an application called Google documents which allows students to create Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations and share them with other students. Students have the option of collaborating and editing these documents online at the same time.
Sophomore Chris Ridenour said he plans to use the chat utility that Gmail offers as well. The new Gmail system is "a great improvement" from Webmail, he said.
