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APPLICATIONS ON A STICK

Brian Grainger

brianATgrainger1.freeserve.co.uk

Two and a half years ago I bought and wrote about my first USB Flash Drive. The predicted demise of the floppy has now happened - since PC World has decided to stop selling floppy disks. In the intervening time, technology has moved on, prices have come down and the Flash Drive now has more use than as a medium for data storage. This article, the first of two, deals with using a Flash Drive, (memory stick), for storing applications as well as data and discusses the uses this might be put to.

When I bought my first stick I got 128MB for just over £25. These days you can get 128MB for less than £10 and I recently bought a 1GB stick for £15 from PC World. 1GB is twice the size of the hard drive on the computer I bought in 1994, which was finally retired by my nephew late last year!

I did not buy the stick to store applications but serendipity took hold as I was searching the web and I realised that the stick would also be very useful for this purpose.

I need to go back a bit in time to when this story first started. After I had bought my first stick a computer news story broke about a company called U3 that were marketing a new type of software system. The idea was that you would buy a U3 enabled USB stick and then you could purchase applications that would go on the stick and would be self-contained. You could plug the stick into any Windows 2000/XP computer and run the U3 applications and save your data to the stick, without touching the host computer at all. This seemed like a good idea to me and I vowed to keep watching to see how the idea developed. Eventually, U3 announced some applications and I began to see some web sites that were selling some U3 enabled sticks. Of course, the price was a little more than a standard stick and then you paid for the applications on top, unless they were free applications. I never saw U3 mentioned on sticks I saw in the computer shop until ...

When I went to PC World to buy my 1GB stick I had a target price in mind. There were a number of possible options and in the end I bought the cheapest. However, I was surprised to see some U3 sticks and did toy with the idea of buying one, which included the Concise Oxford Dictionary free on the stick. In the end I decided against because I thought I may need all the memory the stick provided and I would have to delete the dictionary.

I bought my stick and started using it for the purpose I had bought it and then, searching the Internet for advice on a problem, I found a reference to PortableApps.com (http://portableapps.com). This seemed to provide exactly the same functionality as U3 apps to any USB stick and at no cost.

As the blurb says PortableApps.com provides a truly open platform that works with any hardware you like (USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive, mp3 player, etc). It's open source built around an open format that any hardware vendor or software developer can use. What this means of course is that the applications available are open source as well. Don't expect the Concise Oxford Dictionary to be available for the system any time soon but the range of applications available is large containing all the things you need and expect. The Firefox browser application has even been passed to U3 for use with their system!

When I have reviewed software that I like on the ICPUG site, I often talk about FAB (free, acceptably behaved) software. This is stuff that is installed by copying files to its host directory and does not mess with Windows files and set up. PortableApps have to be all this and more. Because all user settings have to be portable and stored on the USB stick it means that the Windows Registry cannot be used for this purpose.

When looking at PortableApps.com the first place to look is the PortableApps Suite. The Standard Edition gives all the necessary applications for Office and Internet software together with the PortableApps menu system and a game for some relaxation. Let's look in detail at the applications:

Most of these applications will be familiar to you. They are the major alternatives to the Microsoft equivalent applications. It all comes packaged as a 90MB download and works on any Windows system from Windows 98 to Windows Vista with a USB stick of at least 512MB. Most of the apps also run under Wine in Linux, albeit with some restrictions.

The Lite version of the suite replaces the OpenOfficeOrg suite with the wordprocessor AbiWord Portable, which is an excellent Microsoft Word lookalike. This comes as a 31MB download and will fit on a 256MB USB stick.

Of course, you do not have to use any or all of the tools provided in the Suites. You can download the Base system (1MB download), which is basically the menu system and add the applications you need.

I actually use the Standard Suite together with a media player application, VLC Media Player Portable, so that I have that other fundamental application for home use.

PortableApps is work in progress but already the applications available, if you want them, include:

In addition there is another project to run the Apple Macintosh Classic 7 Operating System portably. This is the 'Mac-on-a-Stick' project.

I think you can see that all the most used applications are made available. Just buy a big enough memory stick for your needs.

Having looked at the PortableApps concept and what is available let me now talk a little about my ideas of how to use it.

The primary aim of PortableApps is to have a range of applications on a memory stick that you carry with you. Plug in to any Windows PC and you instantly have your own applications - your own menu system - your own personal settings - your own data files. This means you can use tools that you are familiar with wherever you are, editing and updating your data, without upsetting any host PC in any way. Since installing my own PortableApps my stick is carried on my key fob ready to use with any PC that is available.

Another use for PortableApps is a very quick way to obtain all that software you want on your newly purchased PC without it costing anything. I have not tried it but I would expect PortableApps to install to your home PC's hard drive if you wish. Installing PortableApps is so simple a novice could do it. The OpenOfficeOrg suite is instantly available so everyone can have a Microsoft Office clone at no cost. Of course it is a simple way of ditching Microsoft software and using alternatives for all needs.

Have you ever bought a new PC and wanted to transfer all your applications and data from the old PC to the new one? It's a pain, isn't it? Why not make that effort now to get all your data on a PortableApps enabled stick Then when you buy that new Vista PC you just plug the stick in and go!

My first thought when I saw PortableApps was in relation to my own employer. Working in teams with companies from multiple nations in Europe there is a lot of travelling to meetings. These days, the majority of travellers take their laptop and the first task when the meeting convenes is to plug the laptops in and get them working with the local network. Of course, carrying a laptop through airports is no easy matter, especially with the security restrictions. There is always the slight chance you may mislay the laptop, with associated cost and security implications. If companies standardised on PortableApps there would be no need to travel with laptops at all. If meeting rooms were equipped with PCs already plugged into the network then attendees would simply travel with their memory sticks. Plug the memory sticks in the supplied PCs and you have access to your own files for the duration of the meeting. At the finish, unplug your stick and return home, ready to access your updated files on the PC in your own office.

I think the PortableApps concept is brilliant and, with memory stick capacity rocketing and prices plummeting, their time has come. I look forward to the project team expanding the range of applications available.

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