ONLINE INSTALLER PortableApps?

For the most part they are. They are compiled into the software. They do not need the internet to install.

Freeware apps, however, are an exception. They need to connect to the internet (what is called a live installer) because it would be illegal to include them in the installer without permission (which I doubt would be very easy to get from the almighty giant that is Google). It's been that way for two years, but only now is it being noticed :P.

Online installers do a single download of the actual application package from the publisher's site (Google, Skype). The applications installers are not executed, the files are extracted from them. This is for licensing reasons.

If you're getting Google Chrome or Skype packaged inside an installer from somewhere else, you can rest assured that it's illegal. Unlike most other portable software sites (that package software, not simple directories like portablefreeware), we only do legal software here.

I'd also like to point out that -- correct me if I'm wrong, guys -- if you want to update two or more devices, you can run the installer once, let it download Chrome, Skype, or whatever, and then you can copy the folder (e.g. ChromePortable) over to the \PortableApps folder of the other device. So you wouldn't need to do the download more than once.

Also, not sure how clear it was made, but open source portable apps continue to be bundled with their installer. The only ones that need to download during installation are for programs with tricky licenses that forbid redistribution.

All that being said, now that it's the 21st century and all, does anybody have any real issue with installers that download? It used to be you'd hop on the broadband megahighway at school or work and download big stuff, and then take them home to use there. But now just about everybody's got cable or DSL. The U.S. government (mostly Obama, I think) wants broadband available for everyone. Finland just declared it a "basic human right" to have Internet access. I think France has something similar. With so many companies now no longer taking paper applications, requiring you to, instead, apply online, Internet access as a basic right makes more and more sense, as silly as it looks at first glance.

Something worth pointing out with these online installers (great though they are) is that, if you ever want to reinstall them somewhere down the line, and the file isn't available or the MD5 (if used) has changed, then they will fail. But by that time they will have already wiped the main app directory, leaving you with no app at all.

You can test this by running the installer again whilst disconnected. But backup first!

It's a good bet, after you've installed and before you run it, to right-click the main AppnamePortable folder, zip it up and rename it according to it's version so you've always got a fresh copy if you need one later on.

Or am I just too cautious