Google Calendar vs Zoho Calendar

As you know, earlier GMail, Google Calendar and Google Docs supported offline mode in all browsers using Google Gears plug-in. But then Google decided to bet on HTML5 and abandoned its own proprietary plug-in. The Gears was quickly removed from the Chrome browser (in Firefox and IE it still works). And today Google developers were happy to announce that the offline mode for these apps in Chrome is back and it is implemented on HTML5. However, for an average user it will look no better than it was before: for offline access you still need to install an app (from the Chrome Web Store). In addition, the interface of the offline app is different from the usual web-based GMail interface. It looks lie GMail for iPad.

As you know, Google services are popular both for business and for personal use. That is why, many users often have a need to switch from working to personal account (for example, to check mail). This required multiple logout/login procedures. But now this process will be much more easier - Google is rolling out multi-account sign-in that allows to switch between accounts using the top menu. You can activate this feature and add accounts on this page. However, switching between accounts will work not for all services - only for GMail, Google Calendar, Google Reader, Google Sites, Google Voice, App Engine and Google Code. In addition, those who activate multi-account sign-in - would have to to give up the offline features in Gmail and Calendar. Recall that soon another related problem will be solved soon - some personal services (Google Reader, Blogger, Youtube ...) will become available in Google Apps accounts.

Today, Zoho updated its Zoho Calendar and released it out of beta. And Zoho's chief evangelist, Raju Vegesna, called this service the best online calendar in the market. Given that he is a modest person, and Zoho never promoted its products with loud statements, perhaps, this is true. At least, this service is no worse than Google Calendar, simply because it's a complete clone of Google Calendar. Zoho Calendar allows to create multiple calendars, share them (with different access levels), set reminders (by email, RSS), send invitations, embed public calendars on your site / blog. It has a plugin for Outlook (for synchronization), mobile version and supports offline access with Google Gears. Calendars can be synchronized with external services via ICAL protocol. And of course, Zoho Calendar is tightly integrated to other Zoho services (CRM, Projects, Planner, Mail, Chat).