Gmail drag-and-drop labels

Today the Gmail team quietly made a minor change in its interface with respect to labels.  The label panel moved to a more permanent position below the Inbox and Sent Mail “folders” and above Contacts and Tasks.  The list of labels has also been shortened, allowing a user to drag and drop more frequently used labels in and out of the list.  Emails can now be dragged and dropped on top of labels like a more traditional thick client email system such as Outlook or Thunderbird.

I first noticed something suspicious today when my label list, normally on the right side of the interface thanks to a Gmail Labs tweak, moved to the left side.  After trying several times to move it back to the right side I gave up.  I figured there was a glitch or a bug or they simply disabled the tweak.  When I checked my mail tonight I got a very helpful bubble that explained the changes.  This may give some insight into how the team phased the change in to the interface, disabling the tweak first, then rolling out the update.  I’m intrigued by their update model.