PortableApps.com Platform and Suite 1.5.2 Released

John T. Haller's picture
Submitted by John T. Haller on March 12, 2009 - 11:45pm

PortableApps.com Flash DrivePortableApps.com has released the PortableApps.com Platform and PortableApps.com Suite 1.5.2, making it easier than ever to carry your favorite software with you. This release includes a number of bug fixes and enhancements to the PortableApps.com Platform 1.5 that was released last week and all users are encouraged to upgrade. Browse the web, check your email, chat online, listen to music, keep your passwords secure, work on documents, check your datebook and even play a few games... all on the go. And, as always, it's all open source and completely free.

The PortableApps.com Platform and Suite 1.5.2 is available for immediate download from PortableApps.com/suite.

Release Note: This release was originally posted as version 1.5.1 but there was an issue with the Suite packages. It has been repackaged as version 1.5.2. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Read on for more details...

PortableApps.com Platform 1.5

PortableApps.com ScreenshotThe PortableApps.com Platform 1.5.2 includes all the new features in 1.5 including:

New Theme - The PortableApps.com Menu has a greatly improved display engine and a slick new theme to go along with it. It's PNG based allowing transparent hovers on buttons and other great looking extras. And the next release of the platform in 2 weeks will let you theme it yourself.

App Icon Renaming - Now you can rename all your apps so they appear just as you like.

App Icon Hiding - You can easily hide icons right from the menu. This is especially useful when you add apps that aren't in PortableApps.com Format (Did you know the PortableApps.com Platform works with all portable apps?).

Better Multilingual Support - The Platform now supports 37 languages and has a 55 langauge installer making it easy for everyone to install and use.

App Language Switching - When you switch languages in the menu and then launch one of our multilingual apps like Pidgin, GIMP, Notepad++, VLC and others, the app will automatically come up in the language the menu is set to. This way, you don't have to hunt around in an app to figure out how to change its language. (Of course, the app has to support your chosen language for this to work properly.)

Improved Wallpaper Swapper - The built in wallpaper swapper now supports widescreen and standard wallpapers and will automatically use the best one for the PC you're on.

Run As (Admin) - You can now run individual applications as an admin or other user directly within the menu.

Hide Desktop Icons - You can optionally have the platform hide the PC's desktop icons while it's running, giving you a cleaner desktop.

Transparency - The menu supports a new transparency setting to give it a glassy effect and see the desktop below it.

App Details on Hover - When you hover over an app's icon, you can see all the details of the app. Now you don't have to start it up to remember what version you have installed.

Full details are on the support page...

What's New in 1.5.2

The PortableApps.com Platform 1.5.2 release includes a number of bug fixes and enhancements including:

  • FIXED: Installers for some portable apps would hang when trying to refresh the PortableApps.com Menu on some systems
  • FIXED: Some apps would be unable to start when the Platform was set to Chinese or Brazilian Portugues
  • FIXED: Some apps would not switch back to English when the Platform was set to English
  • FIXED: The PortableApps.com Backup utility would hang when set to German
  • FIXED: The PortableApps.com Menu would flicker on some PCs
  • ENHANCEMENT: The Platform now automatically closes and switches the wallpaper back on an unsafe eject (accidental drive removal)
  • ENHANCEMENT: The Platform now supports running on systems without a system tray such as BartPE builds of Windows
  • ENHANCEMENT: The Platform now partially supports running on read-only media. Renaming/hiding will produce a warning that the settings can not be written
  • ENHANCEMENT: The Platform better handles smaller resolutions like netbook screens (1024x600)
  • ENHANCEMENT: The scroll buttons in the menu now scroll a full page and include a scrolling animation to make long lists of apps more usable while letting the user know what is happening
  • ENHANCEMENT: Explorer windows launched from the folder icons in the menu will remember their size and location (per-machine)

Installing and Upgrading

Whether installing or upgrading, with PortableApps.com, it's a snap. Just download the new PortableApps.com Platform 1.5.2 release and install it to your portable device's root directory. If you're upgrading, it will automatically detect your existing install.

Download Today

The PortableApps.com Platform and Suite 1.5.2 are available for immediate download from PortableApps.com/download. Get them today!

Story Topic:

Comments

John T. Haller's picture

The original Suite packages for 1.5.1 inadvertently included an extra file that would cause issues on a small number of PCs with the old app installers. The Suite and Platform have been repackaged as 1.5.2 to avoid any discrepancies. Anyone who has already downloaded the 1.5.1 Suite can install it without issue and then download and install the 1.5.2 Platform upgrade which is less than 1MB to fix the issue. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

the platform. Smile

"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisici elit, sed eiusmod tempor incidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis .." Friday Next -
"May The Schwartz be with You!" Yogurt the Yoda

th3wildwolf's picture

Microsoft assigned a use for the Win+P Keyboard shortcut in windows 7 (a menu for choosing the video output) so it won't open the PAM. Therefore it needs changing.
Another thing I noticed, the new PAM (1.5.2) freezes during the installation of an app and won't work until the app finishes installing.

I love the new menu! I'm looking forward for updates!

Artificial intelligence stands no chance against natural stupidity!

John T. Haller's picture

The hold during install is by design and the way 1.1 worked. It happens with apps using PA installer 0.12.3 and below (ALL apps except Firefox Portable 3.1 Beta 3 at this point) due to the PA installer hang that was affecting a small number of PCs. Otherwise the menu won't know when the installer is done. Apps rolled out after today will let you use the menu while they are installing. As a workaround, you can just run the installer directly and then refresh the app icons using the options menu.

As discussed in the forums, we'll worry about Windows 7 later. Win7 a test release of an operating system. You're not going to encounter it anywhere and no one should be using it as their primary OS.

Please keep future bug reports in the forums not as comments on a news story.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

Microsoft wants developers to start supporting Windows 7 now, not later, to avoid the compatibility disaster that happened when Vista was released. Refusing to support it now because it's a beta works against that goal. Besides, MS has promised that the API is frozen at this point, so any app that supports it now will still work at RTM.

And I've read in quite a few places that a lot of people who downloaded the Win7 beta are using it as their primary OS (I know I am). It's the most stable piece of software MS has ever released, beta or otherwise.

Hi, reading a virus' code I think I saw the autorun file was capable tu autorun multiple numbers of programs (*.exe) so that inspired me to do the same on my PA key. I've been googling the way but I've got nothing but the same mono-run code.
Is it posible to do it?
This is what i've got (I know is wrong)

[autorun]
open=StartPortableApps.exe
open=PortableApps\ThunderbirdPortable\ThunderbirdPortable.exe
open=PortableApps\PidginPortable\PidginPortable.exe
open=PortableApps\PNotesPortable\PNotesPortable.exe
icon=StartPortableApps.exe
action=Ejecutar PortableApps

with it I only can autorun StartPortableApps.exe, but I would like to autorun four programs at the same time, can anybody help me?

.fer

if you whant it to start multiple apps you can get the auto run to call a .bat file. use it all the time with my usb

[AutoRun]
open =start.bat
Label = Black Knight
Action=Start Apps
Icon=\Documents\Pictures\Journey_II___Faei_by_inner_space.bmp

wiche calls this in the .bat file

StartPortableApps.exe
\Bin\install\install_flash_player.exe
\bblean\blackbox.exe
LaunchU3.exe
EXIT

Life Goes Slowly but it Go's

nice, that worked, but the cmd window wont exit

it did work for me for a while. i just looked it up on the web and i found the EXIT command. usally the bat file closes when all the funtions are finised.
for me it just the bblean stuffing it up

Life Goes Slowly but it Go's

I have Firefox Portable on my flash drive, and also Google Chrome, but when I go to help, and click on either update, or support, it opens with Firefox portable, how could I change it to Chrome, or just simply have it use the system default from the computer?