Category

Like the majority of the connected world I carry around at least one USB stick with me. Since I use several computers on a day to day basis, I found the portable apps project an excellent way to take versions of popular programs around. This could be done before although it was very dependent on the types of programs you wish to carry around with you. For example, by default, popular programs such a firefox / thunderbird save their data in the root:\Documents and Settings\Konrad\Application Data\*Mozilla folders*. This clearly would not allow an app installed on a USB stick to be utilised at a different computer because the key information would still be stored on the first system. Its not just mozilla applications either, more programs would rather save data to the application data folder or to the registry than use the old style ini or xml type files. Portable versions of popular apps do just that, they have been modified either to allow data to be stored locally (i.e. in the program directory on the USB stick ) or modified to use xml type data encapsulation again on the local disk.

Enter Portable Apps.com, a central nexus of not only applications but a great little installer and management system. U3 disks are gaining traction despite some worry about the security vulnerabilities they potentially expose. With PortableApps you can use a regular USB stick and have a simple interface that pops up when the disk is mounted providing you with a list of available applications. This system suited me for a while as it was convenient and simple, however as time progressed I found a few key applications missing and the lack of custom launching distinctly annoying.

Quite by accident I found PStart. Whilst not graphically as polished as the PortableApp Suite however it offers a lot more flexibility including simple search and PIM functions. It is also possible to make custom launchers with a plethora of options.

For those who like the functionality of the PortableApps coupled with the flexibility of being able to launch anything with a variety of options, I highly recommend the freeware PStart, I just hope they offer skinning in a future version.