PortableApps…

I’ve been up since 3:30 AM, and I’m tired of work. Deciding to take a short break before lunch, I ran across a few jewels, include this — PortableApps.com. Sweet!

I can’t help but assume that you already know about this. I’m so slow with this sort of stuff. But in case you reside in the slow lane with me, PortableApps is a suite of applications, mostly open source, that have been scaled down such that they will fit on most portable devices (thumbdrives, portable hard drives, iPods and other portable plug-in devices.

You just download the apps and them drag them over to your device. Then, as you are in portable mode, away from your computer, and you need to do some work, you can sit at another computer, plug in your device, and you have access to these apps and your personal data. The software includes:

  • AbiWord (word processing)
  • FileZilla (FTP client)
  • Firefox (Web browser)
  • Gaim (instant messaging)
  • NVU (Web editor)
  • OpenOffice (office suite)
  • Sunbird (Calendar)
  • Thunderbird (e-mail)
  • and more!

At present, PortableApps is PC only, although most of the apps are available for Mac individually.

3 thoughts on “PortableApps…”

  1. David, thanks for sharing these. DId you know, if on a PC, you can get a Linux LIVE CD that has all these applications on it, and work directly from the CD with the data saved directly to your USB flash drive. This gives you the functionality of a lot more programs than just the ones you mention above! You can get the Kanotix CD at the Download a la Mode link below….

    I’d also like to plug my Download a la Mode column and free CD that comes with 100 free software titles. You can find it online at http://www.mguhlin.net/dl
    This is actually a CD that also includes “5 Steps to District Blogs” that will be a workshop at the TCEA 2006 State Conference being held next week. Several of us from my district will share how we’re using blog platforms–like WordPress/b2Evolution–to support writing and audio publishing in various grades.

    The site for that is online at http://itls.saisd.net/mg/tcea2006

    Hope this is helpful to all and thanks for all the great work you do!

    Miguel Guhlin
    http://www.mguhlin.net/blog

  2. Don’t feel bad–LifeHacker just posted this today, too. ;> I’m definitely going to fiddle with it. Between this and the possibilities with Google, Goobuntu, and maybe turning all office apps into the Gmail paradigm, things are getting pretty darned convenient for anyone who’s mobile.

  3. Dave,

    I have been playing with portable open office as a way to stay familiar with it even though it isn’t being used (at least not yet =) ) in my organization. Think about the potential for students – give them a 256 mb flash drive ($20?) and they can have their entire application suite in their pockets. No worries about locking down computers, just don’t even install any apps on the computer. Let them just run portable aps

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *