Recently, PortableApps released an overhauled version 1.5 of its PortableApps.com Suite. I’ve written about PortableApps in previous versions, and several readers agreed that its suite is incredibly useful, especially if you like to carry around a USB thumb drive stocked with applications that you can use anytime, on any computer. You get herds of them–mostly open source offerings — in one download from the site. They’re all carefully selected as excellent applications, too.

Here is what’s under the hood in the upgraded suite, and other good cross-platform resources for those who want to carry useful applications on USB thumb drives.
The PortableApps.com Suite is a collection of pre-selected free, primarily open source applications that you can stick on a thumb drive (or a laptop) in one quick download. It includes ClamWin Portable (antivirus), Mozilla Firefox – Portable Edition (web browser), Gaim Portable (instant messaging), OpenOffice.org Portable (office suite), Sudoku Portable (puzzle game), Mozilla Sunbird – Portable Edition (calendar/task manager) and Mozilla Thunderbird – Portable Edition (email client) and runs comfortably from a USB thumb drive.
There are basic, lite, and standard versions of the PortableApps suite. If you try out the applications you automatically get, you’ll probably find several applications that you want to make use of on an ongoing basis. However, one of the most popular uses for the suite is just keeping it on a thumb drive so that you can use your favorite applications from any computer anywhere.
The new version 1.5 of the suite has a new, much better-looking theme than the old tabula rasa look, and it can be customized with different looks for various computers you may use it on. For example, you may prefer one look for a desktop computer, and another one for the small display on a netbook. You can also launch applications as an administrator, and keep application icons out of menus — security boosts that will be appreciated by those who use PortableApps on pocket thumb drives that go everywhere. These features alone are good reasons to upgrade. In addition, there are many new applications in version 1.5, and support for many more languages.
PortableApps is a Windows-only download, but there are similar offerings for both the Mac and Linux. I wrote about MacLibre here. This site offers a download that delivers free open source applications such as GIMP (graphics), Adium (IM), Firefox, Thunderbird (e-mail), Cyberduck (FTP), AbiWord (word processor), and ClamXav (anti-virus). It too, is a good, one-download solution for people who want to keep their favorite applications on a thumb drive.
Linux users, too, can find many resources for stocking a thumb drive or portable computer with free applications, at PendriveLinux. If you haven’t taken advantage of the benefits of a well-stocked USB thumb drive yet, you can get lots of capacity on them for free, and tons of good, free applications to keep on them in the links in this post.
{"source":"https:\/\/gigaom.com\/2009\/03\/12\/portableapps-delivers-better-look-security-in-new-version-15\/wijax\/49e8740702c6da9341d50357217fb629","varname":"wijax_3d97a2c4f63242a8de66eeb6039da731","title_element":"header","title_class":"widget-title","title_before":"%3Cheader%20class%3D%22widget-title%22%3E","title_after":"%3C%2Fheader%3E"}