This is perhaps the coolest computing solution of the year! Imagine carrying all your favorite applications with you wherever you go.  Now imagine when you use the application, it remembers your personal settings, bookmarks, or even passwords. What comes to mind to most people is that this can only be accomplished with a laptop or some kind of remote desktop solution.

But what if everything you needed existed on a single USB flash drive? PortableApps allows you to “carry your favorite computer programs along with all of your bookmarks, settings, email and more with you. Use them on any Windows computer. All without leaving any personal data behind.”

PortableApps is “platform” that lives on any portable storage device (USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive, etc). Since it’s open source built around an open format, it works any hardware vendor storage device that any software developer can use.

It works like this. After you download the installer, plug in a flash drive, and then run the setup program. During the set up process, the installer will ask you where to install PortableApps; use the BROWSE button to point the installer to your flash drive and then continue the installation. When it’s complete, PortableApps will be installed on the flash drive and the next time you plug it in a computer’s USB port, it will launch automatically!

There are three different installers that allow you to just install the PortableApps environmnent, a “lite” collection of minimal software, or the complete suite or portable apps. We like the complete suite that includes:

  • a web browser
  • email client
  • office suit
  • calendar/scheduler
  • instant messaging client
  • antivirus
  • audio player
  • Sudoku game
  • password manager
  • PDF reader
  • minesweeper clone
  • backup utility, and
  • integrated menu system

All of these are preconfigured to work portably. Just install it to your portable device and you’re ready to go. And when you’re finished using the software, unplug the flash drive from the computer and move on. There will be no trace of your activity left behind.

We don’t like hype here at PC Rebellion, but if you are often on the go with access only to a stranger’s computer, PortableApps is a “must have.”

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