About PortableApps
Lots of us would like to take our computer data and programs with us, but hate lugging a laptop around. Wouldn't it be nice if we could carry a flash drive we could plug into any Windows computer and instantly have our own email client; with our own email, contacts, logon info, etc. ready to go? Wouldn't it be nice to fire up our favorite browser, surf the web and have all of our bookmarks, homepage and preferences already set? If this sounds like nirvana, then PortableApps are for you.
Install PortableApps on your flash drive (you'll want the CIPCUG Flash Drive, of course, but any will do) and you have all the useful information you need in a format that will fit into any pocket or purse. No more lugging laptops when you visit the in-laws. And don't worry. After you unplug your flash drive, you will leave nothing behind: no temporary browser cache files, no incomplete text documents saved in temporary files, no history of where you were browsing -- nothing of what you did will be left behind.
Comparison of PortableApps Versions
To get started, install the version of PortableApps that's right for you. The Platform Only install is right if you want to install specific programs and don't want a lot of the baggage included with the Suites. The Light Suite has most of what most users will want, but without the large Open Office Suite -- substitution just the AbiWord word processor. The Standard Suite has all the major applications already installed. It's easier, but you need a large flash drive.
| Platform Only | Suite Light | Suite Standard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Download Size | 1MB download | 35MB download | 113MB download |
| Free Space Needed | 1.2MB installed | 100MB installed | 350MB installed |
| Recommended Device | All devices | 256MB+ devices | 512MB+ devices |
| Install File | PA_Platform_Setup_1.1.exe | PA_Suite_Light_Setup_1.1.exe | PA_Suite_Setup_1.1.exe |
| PortableApps.com Platform | |||
| PortableApps.com Menu | X | X | X |
| PortableApps.com Backup | X | X | X |
| Custom Folders, Icons & Autorun | X | X | X |
| Bundled Apps | |||
| Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition (web browser) | X | X | |
| Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition (email) | X | X | |
| Mozilla Sunbird, Portable Edition (calendar/tasks) | X | X | |
| ClamWin Portable (antivirus) | X | X | |
| Pidgin Portable (instant messaging) | X | X | |
| Sumatra PDF Portable (PDF reader) | X | X | |
| KeePass Portable (password manager) | X | X | |
| Sudoku Portable (game) | X | X | |
| Mines-Perfect Portable (game) | X | X | |
| CoolPlayer+ Portable (audio player) | X | X | |
| OpenOffice.org Portable (office suite) | |||
| Writer (word processor) | |||
| Calc (spreadsheet) | |||
| Impress (presentations) | X | ||
| Base (database utility) | |||
| Draw (drawing) | |||
| AbiWord Portable (word processor) | X | ||
PortableApps Add-Ons
The following list of add-ons have specific versions for PortableApps. The ones with an X in the last row are included in the CIPCUG Flash Drive.
| Accessibility | ||
|---|---|---|
| Firefox Accessibility Extension | Make Firefox more accessible | |
| On-Screen Keyboard Portable | Easily access an on-screen keyboard | |
| Virtual Magnifying Glass Portable | A full-featured screen magnifier | |
| Development | ||
| Notepad++ Portable | A full-featured text editor with syntax highlighting | X |
| Nvu Portable & KompoZer Portable | The easy-to-use Nvu web editor | X |
| XAMPP | Apache, mySQL, PHP, phpMyAdmin, etc in one package | |
| Education | ||
| BPBible Portable | bible study tool | |
| Celestia Portable | portable space simulator | |
| Stellarium Portable | portable planetarium | |
| Games | ||
| DOSBox Portable | classic DOS games to go | |
| Frets on Fire Portable | rock out anywhere with this Guitar Hero™-style game | |
| Jooleem Portable | simple and addictive puzzle game with great music and visuals | |
| LBreakout2 Portable | breakout-style arcade game similar to Arkanoid | |
| Mines-Perfect Portable | a classic hunt-for-mines game with advanced features | |
| PokerTH Portable | classic Texas Hold Em style poker at its best | |
| Sudoku Portable | the wildly popular and addictive puzzle game | X |
| Graphics & Pictures | ||
| Cornice Portable | image viewer with slideshow | |
| GIMP Portable | Photo and Image Editor | X |
| Internet | ||
| aMSN Portable | chat and video chat on MSN/Windows Live | |
| DownThemAll! Extension (for Firefox) | download the files and images you want faster | |
| FileZilla Portable | the full-featured FTP client | X |
| FireFTP Extension (for Firefox) | a lightweight extension | |
| Miranda IM Portable | chat with AOL, MSN and Yahoo users in a customizable interface | |
| Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition | the award-winning web browser that's safe and secure | X |
| Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition | the handy email client | X |
| Nvu Portable & KompoZer Portable | the easy-to-use webpage editor | X |
| Pidgin Portable | chat with AOL, MSN and Yahoo users in an easy-to-use interface | X |
| PuTTY Portable | lightweight telnet and SSH client | |
| Sage Extension (for Firefox) | A full-featured RSS extension | |
| WinSCP Portable | SFTP, FTP and SCP client | |
| WinWGet Portable | take and manage your downloads on the go | |
| Music & Video | ||
| Audacity Portable | A simple audio editor and recorder | X |
| BonkEnc Portable | extract, convert, and encode audio | X |
| CoolPlayer+ Portable | Lightweight, fast, easy-to-use audio player | X |
| DVDStyler Portable | DVD menu authoring tool | X |
| MPlayer Portable | Full-featured movie player with support for most video formats | X |
| VirtualDub Portable | video processing and capture utility | X |
| VLC Media Player Portable | An easy to use media player that plays most audio and video formats | X |
| Office | ||
| AbiWord Portable | a lightweight word processor compatible with Microsoft Word files | X |
| GnuCash Portable | accounting, expenses and financial management | X |
| Lightning Extension (for Thunderbird) | A lightweight extension for your calendar and tasks | |
| Mozilla Sunbird, Portable Edition | Calendar and task management with a familiar interface | X |
| Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition (Address Book) | Email client's built-in address book with import/export functions | |
| OpenOffice.org Portable | word processor, spreadsheet, presentations with Microsoft compatibility | |
| PDFTK Builder Portable | split, collate, watermark and password protect PDF documents | |
| PNotes Portable | stick notes to go | X |
| SpeedCrunch Portable | an intuitive algebraic calculator | |
| Sumatra PDF Portable | a lightweight PDF viewer | X |
| Task Coach Portable | to do list and task manager | X |
| Operating Systems | ||
| Mac-on-Stick | Run Mac OS Classic 7 portably | |
| Utilities | ||
| 7-Zip Portable | File archiver and compressor | X |
| ClamWin Portable | Antivirus on the go | X |
| Command Prompt Portable | Simple link to a customizable command prompt | |
| ConvertAll Portable | convert units of measurement | |
| Eraser Portable | securely delete files and data | |
| InfraRecorder Portable | full-featured CD and DVD burner | |
| JkDefrag Portable | Disk defragmentation and optimization | |
| KeePass Password Safe Portable | Secure, easy-to-use password manager | X |
| Lightscreen Portable | easy to use screenshot tool | |
| PeaZip Portable | Easy to use file archiver and compressor | |
| PortableApps.com AppCompactor | shrink apps without affecting functionality | X |
| PortableApps.com Backup | integrated backup utility bundled with the platform | |
| PortableApps.com Menu | integrated start menu bundled with the platform | |
| Toucan | backup, sync and encrypt for advanced users | |
| WinDirStat Portable | disk usage analyzer and cleanup tool | |
| winMd5Sum Portable | check md5 sums to verify files on the go | |
| WinMerge Portable | file comparison and merging | |
| Xenon File Manager Portable | portable file browser | X |