Portable Applications: Carry Your Favorite Programs and Settings with You

Do you use more than one computer on a consistent basis? Do you use computers in public areas, like libraries or university computer labs? Would you like to be able to use the same program settings on multiple computers, like internet bookmarks, email account settings, and instant messenger connections?

I, for one, get tired of installing the same program over and over. Install Mozilla Firefox on my work computer, then again on my home computer, and yet again on my laptop. Then I invariably end up having different bookmarks or different extensions installed, or I have a password saved on my work computer and can't for the life of me remember it when I'm sitting in front of my home computer. And, of course, I never have my personal settings available to me when I'm working in one of the university computer labs.

The good news is that there is a simple solution to these problems with many kinds of software. All you need is a 1GB (or less) USB memory stick. Welcome to the world of Portable Applications (http://www.portableapps.com). The concept is simple. Take your favorite open source programs and create installation files such that you can install the programs to run entirely from your memory stick or any other portable memory device, such as portable hard drives or iPod-type MP3 players that accept data files.

Portable Apps includes Mozilla Firefox (web browser), Mozilla Thunderbird (email client), Mozilla Sunbird (calendar and task manager), FileZilla (FTP client), GAIM and Miranda (instant messenger clients), PuTTY (telnet and SSH client), Audacity (audio editor and recorder), AbiWord (word processor), OpenOffice.org (office suite that includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing package and database) and much, much more. There is even a download for the Portable Apps Suite, which includes several of the aforementioned programs, plus antivirus software, a backup utility, a Sudoku game and even an integrated menu to make launching programs easier.

If you're really ambitious, you can try your hand at installing an operating system on your thumb drive. You can currently download Mac OS Classic 7 and there is a flavor of Linux on the way.

All the programs on the site are open source, which means they are free to download and free to share with others. All programs are fully functional versions, not limited or trial versions. The site also claims that all software is free from spyware and advertisements.

So, if you want great, free software that you only have to install once but can use no matter where you go, grab your thumb drive, head on over to Portable Apps, and start downloading today. Just don't forget to remove that thumb drive when you leave the library!