All emails and calendar appointments can be downloaded in a single file, so that the user can easily migrate their content to other platforms Checkout here ( http://www.itsusefulstuff.com/google-allows-back-gmail-calendar/ )
I'm really pleased to see this because nobody should be locked into using Gmail because it's too difficult to stop using. I am hoping in the future that there are some open source cloud solutions that allow people to safely maintain any email account without depending on some corporation. They should be able to move around providers and find a place they like without being subjected to advertising. I think there are plenty of people who would pay say 2 or 3 dollars per month to know that there is a male was secured and not being tracked by the NSA and knowing they can easily download it or move somewhere else.
We just bought our first win8 machine - locked into using gmail because the new outlook is so foul! I like my male's secured too. A shame gmail can't import pst files though.
I think that this is a really smart move on Google's part. I personally don't plan on switching from Gmail any time soon, but it is nice to know if I was I could take my data with me. And with all the attention the NSA has gotten recently and everything that has been brought to light (they even monitored MMORPGs!) people are going to become more and more interested in a cloud solution for managing their e-mail.