Google has made a change to the compose/reply experience in Gmail, so that it now comes in a pop up box.

“How many times have you been writing an email and had to reference something in another message? Saving a draft, opening the old email, and then reopening your draft wastes valuable minutes. The new compose pops up in a window, just like chats (only larger),” says product manager Phil Sharp. “This makes it easy to reference any other emails without ever having to close your draft. You can even do a search or keep an eye on new mail as it comes in. And because the compose window works the same way as chats, you can write multiple messages at once and minimize a message to finish it later.”

“The new compose is designed to let you focus on what’s important: your message,” says Sharp. “The controls are still there when you need them but get out of the way when you don’t. We’ve even added some new features like the ability to easily insert inline images and have more to come.”

When the users adds recipients to a message, Google will show profile pics for contacts, when available, in autocomplete. Address chips can be dragged and dropped between the different fields.

The new experience is rolling out in preview, but Google says it will add some “finishing touches” over the coming months, and will then enable it for everyone.