portableapps posts

PortableApps suite of USB stick-ready apps launches Platform 2.0 beta 3

by Brad Linder Jul 24th 2009

PortableApps provides portable versions of popular applications including Firefox, OpenOffice, Pidgin, GIMP, VLC, and FileZilla. By portable, I mean no installation is necessary. You can run these applications by unpacking them to a hard drive, USB flash drive, or other removable media and clicking an executable file, which makes them easy to carry on a flash drive and use on multiple computers.

The team also develops an application launcher and puts together a suite of its most popular applications. PortableApps is beta testing version 2.0 of its Platform, and this week released PortableApps Platform 2.0 beta 3. The latest version features a ton of updates, including:

Support for threme switching
Support for 120dpi in Windows Vista and 7
Ability to set menu transprency
You can move most-used apps to the top of the menu
Faster menu loading times
Uninstall apps through a right-click context menu
Configure apps to automatically run when the menu loads
Support for PCs with more than one monitor

It's also easier to hide applications, run apps as administrator, and the menu has been configured to display appropriately in WINE.

[via WebWorkerDaily]

Tags: portableapps, portableapps-2.0-beta-3

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Open Source, Windows x64

4 portable app suites to power up your USB flash drive

by Lee Mathews Jun 22nd 2009

Portable applications suites are a great way to get your hands on a ton of useful software with minimal fuss. Got a new flash drive, or maybe an old one you don't know what to do with?

Throw one of these suites on it and you've got an instant software Swiss Army Knife.

PortableApps.com - John T. Haller's project is the most well-known suite on the 'net. It includes Firefox, OpenOffice (or AbiWord in the light version), Pidgin, Thunderbird, Sunbird, Sumatra PDF, KeePass, and more. Haller is very good for keeping the core up-to-date - you'll usually see new versions of the Mozilla apps the same day they're released.

LiberKey - The Ultimate version will take up half a gig on your drive, and it's packed with useful programs, including technician favorites like CPU-Z, RegShot, Revo Uninstaller, Unlocker. There are also loads of multimedia, networking, and internet apps. The 180Mb basic version is a lot like PortableApps with the addition of Piriform's tools (CCleaner, Defraggler, Recuva). They've got a handy comparison chart posted as well. One omission worth noting: OpenOffice.

Tags: liberkey, portable-apps, portableapps, suites, winpenpack

Filed under: Developer, Utilities, Freeware, Open Source

Put your portable apps on a diet with AppCompactor

by Lee Mathews Oct 22nd 2008

I'm a big fan of John T. Haller's Portable Apps.com, and I was very excited by one of the apps that appeared in its RSS feed last night: AppCompactor.

It is, of course, portable, open source, and designed to integrate with the PortableApps suite. AppCompactor fuses UPX (for exe, dll, and other binary files) and 7zip (for jar and zip files) to compress portable applications. Not surprisingly, it's been used to package the other programs in the suite.

Using the default options, AppCompactor reduced my CCleaner portable folder to about 760k (about 40% its original size) and pummeled my ArtWeaver to trifling 3.1mb - a 10mb reduction. Both programs launched much more quickly from my Kingston Data Traveler, and they functioned exactly as they had before: no errors, no headaches.

AppCompactor can't work it's magic on everything, though. It didn't manage to reduce a single byte with FastStone Capture or Spybot, and it only reduced AdAware SE by 60kb. For curiosity's sake, I also tried portable version of Photoshop CS3 and Office 2003, and had little success with them either, saving only about 1mb on each.

Since it utilizes UPX, apps that were previously packaged using that type of compression (like the Gimp or Firefox) probably won't see an appreciable reduction.

Still, when it does work, it's fantastic. It's an incredibly simple way to boost launch times for some of your portable apps and provide extra megs of free space on your flash drive. A few megs might not seem like much on a 16 or 32gb drive, but space is space - and more is always welcome in my book.

Tags: compression, flash drive, FlashDrive, portable, portable apps, PortableApps, UPX

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Freeware, Lists

24 Killer Portable Apps For Your USB Flash Drive

by Lee Mathews Sep 2nd 2008

My flash drive works pretty hard, so I've spent a lot of time gathering a reliable, powerful set of portable tools that allow me to work hard and play hard, even if I can't do it on my own PC. Here are two dozen apps that I always have at the ready.

Encryption

Truecrypt - Why is TrueCrypt first on the list? Simple. A multi-gig, easy-to-lose, unencrypted drive with your data on it is a terrible security risk. Truecrypt helps me keep all my private stuff locked down. Read the "traveller mode" documentation for help setting it up.

Web and Internet

Operator - I'm not an Opera fanboy by any stretch, but if I've got to surf on a public computer, I'm using Operator. It's got Tor anonymous browsing built in to keep you safe. You can read more about it in my previous post. If I'm on a trusted computer, I'll go for Portable Firefox.

Pidgin - I don't usually need to IM from a client's site, but just in case I need to stay in touch I bring Pidgin with me. For portable multi-network chat, it's the best option out there. Add the encryption plugin to keep it secure.

Filezilla - Half the time I need Notepad++, it's because I'm editing files on my FTP server from the road. Filezilla portable keeps all my sites accesible from wherever I am.

Tags: flash, list, portable, portable apps, PortableApps, usb, usb flash drive, UsbFlashDrive

Filed under: Utilities, Windows

Take your start menu with you

by Joey Celis Jun 26th 2008

If you use have a handful of portable apps on a thumb drive you'll appreciate the portable start menu.

Developed by Aignesberger Software GmbH, portable start menu will scan your thumb drive for all your executables and create a start menu accessible from your system tray.

Portable start menu can also be configured to auto run applications when the thumb drive is inserted as well as close out all your portable apps when you exit the start menu program.

Available for the Windows operating system, portable start menu can be downloaded for free at Aignes.com.

Tags: portableapps, windows

Filed under: Utilities, Macintosh, Office, Productivity, Freeware

FSuite CD: portable apps for Mac OS X

by Todd Ritter Apr 3rd 2008

For those Mac users jealous of the helpful Portable Apps Suite for Windows, the Free Open Source Software Mac User Group (FreeSMUG) has a similar solution called FSuite CD. The application pack comes with a bunch of portable Mac applications for easy mobility of many necessary programs, and it runs on PPC and Intel hardware.

The FSuite CD image includes the installers of over 40 portable apps. In addition to the obvious programs like Firefox, VLC, OpenOffice, etc., FSuite CD also includes things like Adium, Transmission, Audacity, Nvu, Gimp, and Bean. The individual apps are available for download from the FreeSMUG site as well.

To create a handy launcher, you'll have to create a folder on your portable drive, drag aliases of each portable .app to the folder, arrange the icons, and adjust the folder view.

[Via makeuseof]

UPDATE: The FSuite CD is merely a collection of recommended FOSS apps recommended by the FreeSMUG group. The FreeSMUG website also has portable apps for download, but the FSuite CD does not include them. The original article combined two separate projects: portable apps for Mac OS X, and the FSuite CD disk image that makes it easy to download a grouping of popular open-source applications.

Sorry for the confusion.

Tags: portable apps, PortableApps, tweet-this

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Mozilla, Beta

Firefox 3 beta 5 portable edition available - safest way to try out FF3b5

by Brad Linder Apr 2nd 2008

Those folks at PortableApps are getting faster and faster. Just a few hours after Firefox 3 beta 5 was released, the portable version was available for download. Actually, it might have been available immediately, but we didn't think to look for it until a few hours had passed.

What exactly is a portable app? Well, in Windows, it basically means a version of an application that doesn't need to be installed to a particular folder, doesn't need to write entries to the Windows registry, and typically doesn't show up in the Add/Remove dialog. So you can install portable applications to a USB flash drive and take them with you to use on any computer.

But you can also install a portable application like Firefox 3 beta 5 portable edition to any folder on your hard drive. Why would you want to do that? Because then you can try out the latest test version of Firefox without overwriting any of your Firefox 2 settings. The down side is that Firefox portable edition will not import any of your Firefox 2 settings automatically. But you can use programs like the Firefox Environment Backup Extension to copy some of your settings.

Tags: firefox, firefox-3-beta-5, firefox-portable, portable-edition, portableapps

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

winPenPack: Portable application suite for your flash drive

by Brad Linder Feb 22nd 2008

We love portable applications. You know, the kind that you can run from a single executable file without installing them to your computer. There's no need to uninstall portable applications you're not using. You can just delete them. And they don't make crazy changes to your Windows registry. Best of all, you can run them from removable media like a USB flash drive.

There a couple of great resource for portable applications, including the Portable Freeware Collection, which maintains a good list of applications and PortableApps, which not only has a list of programs that you can run from a Flash drive, but a nifty application launcher for your portable programs.

Like PortableApps, winPenPack offers a bundle of portable applications and a handy program launcher. There are several different winPenPack bundles available, ranging from an Essentials pack which weighs about takes up a few hundred MB to a 1GB version which packs a whole boatload of software. The Essentials pack still has a lot of great software including Firefox, Thunderbird, Filezilla, Gimp, Kompozer, and Pidgin.
There are also special versions labeled "school," and "games" that come with more specialized applications. When you first run winPenPack you'll notice that most of the menus are in Italian, even if you manage to find the option to change the language to English. But you can also download a 44MB ZIP language pack. Once you unpack that file to your installation directory your menus should appear in English.

[via TechnoBuzz]

Tags: portable, portableapps, winpenpack

Filed under: Windows, Blogging, Productivity, Freeware

Windows Live Writer Portable lets you blog on the go

by Brad Linder Sep 11th 2007

Do you use Windows Live Writer to update your blog at home, but wish you had it on the go. Of course the simplest solution is to get a laptop and carry it around with you everywhere. But if you'd rather not lug a 6 pound machine and 23 pounds of accessories in a bag, you can install Windows Live Writer to a flash drive and run it from pretty much any PC.

Microsoft doesn't officially release a portable version of Windows Live Writer, but developer Scott Kingery has stepped up to the task. With the recent release of Windows Live Writer 3 Beta, Kingery has released an updated version of his portable launcher.

Not only does thew new launcher work with the latest Microsoft beta, it also works with SanDisk's U3 launcher platform. If you've purchased a flash drive from SanDisk in the last few years, odds are it has U3 preloaded. On the down side, this means you have a few MBs less free space on the drive than advertised. On the upside, it means you have a nice little program launcher that looks something like the Windows start menu. It's not quite as customizable as the PortableApps launcher, but it'll do in a pinch.

Kingery has detailed sets of instructions for installing a portable version of Windows Live Writer on his blog, including steps for U3 users and steps for those using a non-U3 flash drive.

[via ShanKri-la]

Tags: live writer, LiveWriter, portableapps, windows live writer, windows live writer portable, WindowsLiveWriter, WindowsLiveWriterPortable

Filed under: Windows, Office, Productivity, Open Source

Portable apps to be thankful for

by Jordan Running Nov 21st 2006

Ah, glorious portable apps. Even better, a whole suite of glorious free portable apps all wrapped up in one package? Going on the road for the holidays and want to take your desktop--but not your computer--with you? The PortableApps Suite version 1.0 has been released and it's definitely something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. The suite comes in two flavors: Standard edition fits comfortable on a 512MB USB drive and includes ClamWin (antivirus), Firefox, Gaim (instant messaging), OpenOffice.org, Sudoku, Sunbird (calendar/task manager) and Thunderbird (email client). Lite edition fits on a 256MB drive but eschews OpenOffice.org in favor of the slimmer AbiWord. Best of all, though, the PortableApps Suite comes with the PortableApps Menu, an attractive, customizable launcher, and PortableApps Backup for, well, backing up your portable apps.

[Via Lifehacker]

Tags: portable, portableapps, suite

Filed under: Windows, Mozilla, Open Source, Browser Tips

Firefox Portable 1.5.0.5 Released

by Grant Robertson Jul 28th 2006

Fast on the heels of the 1.5.0.5 Firefox service release, PortableApps (a group dedicated to creating USB Key based version of popular open source applications) has announced an updated and expanded version of Portable Firefox.

The new version, renamed "Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition" is the result of close work between PortableApps and the Mozilla development team and offers a laundry list of new features.

Firefox Portable now supports running from a CD or other read-only media right out of the box, "in place upgrades" that allow you to install a new version on top of the old, and full support for the official Firefox incremental upgrades that allow Portable Firefox to stay in version sync with traditionally installed copies.

Portable Firefox is a great tool for those times when you're stuck using an unfamilliar PC, such as in college labs, on the road or when staying with less geeky family.

[via Digg]

Tags: browser, Firefox, Mozilla, mozilla Firefox, MozillaFirefox, portableapps, usb key, UsbKey

Filed under: Internet, Windows, Office, Productivity, Open Source

Portable Apps Suite

by Jordan Running Feb 1st 2006

The fine folks at PortableApps.com have put together an excellent Portable Apps Suite that bundles eight essential Windows apps that you can take with you on a USB drive. The included apps are Firefox (web browser), Thunderbird (e-mail client), OpenOffice.org (office suite), AbiWord (word processor), NVU (web site editor), Sunbird (calendar and tasks manager), FileZilla (FTP client), and Gaim (IM). The suite comes in two flavors: Standard, which includes all of the above and fits on a 256MB drive, and Light, which omits OpenOffice.org and fits in 128MB. Brilliant.

Tags: abiword, filezilla, firefox, gaim, nvu, openoffice, openoffice.org, portable, portable apps, PortableApps, sunbird, thunderbird

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