Google has given Gmail users an early Christmas gift, adding a free ‘Tasks’ list feature to its GMail client.

According to The Official GMail Blog, the new Tasks feature operates in a separate window which, like a Gmail chat window, can be floated outside of your Gmail workspace.

While a ‘To Do’ list feature may seem old hat at first glance, Google techs suggest that, since many of us do so much of our daily business (personal and corporate) via e-mail, an integrated reminder system just makes sense.

A quick poll of TLP’s editorial team supports the notion that power users will probably get more use out of a mail client-based To Do list than a browser-based one. The Google Tasks list is simply ‘in the right place at the right time’.

To enable Tasks, go to Settings, click the ‘Labs’ tab. Select ‘Enable’ next to ‘Tasks’ and then click ‘Save Changes’ at the bottom. Then, after Gmail refreshes, on the left under the ‘Contacts’ link, you’ll see a ‘Tasks’ link. Just click it to get started.