You username must be at least six characters in length. See Google's explanation:
said by GMAIL FAQ:Studies have shown that short usernames at popular domains receive significantly more spam due to automatic address generation. Gmail's requirement that all usernames be at least six characters in length is meant to keep spam out of your inbox.
A GMAIL account will remain active for up to 9 months of inactivity. After this time, the emails will be removed, the account deleted and the username will be made available to new users.
Before you can begin to POP your mail you will need to change some settings in your account.
Step 1 Once logged in, click on `settings'
Step 2 Click on the `Forwarding and POP' tab
Step 3 Select the option most appropriate for you.
Right now the options are: •Enable POP for all mail •Enable POP only for mail that arrives from now on
Once enabled, you will also an option to: •Keeping a copy of the message in your GMAIL inbox •Archiving the new message(s) •Trashing the message(s) once downloaded.
GMAIL uses "threading" to sort conversations together. It displays the complete conversations/messages as a newsreader would do, making it much easier to keep track of correspondence.
No statements from the Google camp have been made to assume that this would happen.
said by Google: Gmail is still in an early stage of development. If you set up an account, you'll be able to keep it even after we make Gmail more widely available and as one of the system's early testers, you will be helping us improve the service through your feedback. We might ask for your comments and suggestions periodically and we appreciate your help in making Gmail even better.