Google Apps vs forward (non-technical issue)

Hi,

I have a question dealing with the choice in setting up my mail. I have 1 Linode that hosts 3 websites. Everything is working well but I don't run my own mailserver.

Every site has a couple of adresses attached to it but normally I let the registrar just forward everything to 1 Gmail-account.

I was wondering what the advantages are in using Google Apps (and using the Gmail MX records) as opposite to the forward approach?

Thanks in advance