About a week ago, Google announced that they have added the IMAP protocol to Gmail. Google said they would be rolling "out the feature over the next couple of days."

It has now been 6 days since the announcement and many Gmail users still do not see the feature in their account settings.

Gmail Guide has been trying to weather the situation in a Google Groups thread, explaining that these feature roll outs need to go slow to ensure the servers and hardware can handle the new load.

Gmail Guide explained:

t's really great to hear how much everyone wants IMAP, and I feel for those of you that have been such loyal Gmailers for so long but have to wait a little longer. We knew the roll out wouldn't be instant for everyone. Because of the way the system is designed, the feature would go live in Gmailers' accounts gradually and randomly. As a result, we decided to first announce IMAP as it started to roll out rather than later.

We are trying to get IMAP to all users as soon as we can. If you don't have it yet, expect to see it approximately one week from our announcement on October 24. Rolling out new features often place extra burden on our servers, particularly in the case of IMAP where users may be downloading their entire inboxes at once. I know that it is frustrating to wait for a feature that's been highly anticipated. Thanks for your patience, and it won't be much longer!

So, if you still do not have it by tomorrow or the day after, then something is probably wrong.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

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