Anybody know if someone has a comparison of all U3 apps (free or otherwise) vs portableapps? I'd like to know what (if anything) U3 has that PA doesn't, and vice versa.
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The U3 apps are basically not supported any more, so that should give you a good starting point.
Portable Apps work just fine on a U3 drive. There are even ways to get them onto the U3 menu.
MC
OK, but what I'd like is some sort of table or cross-reference that says "if you like this U3 app, then you get the same functionality out of this Portable app".
I suppose I'd better bite the bullet and start my own list. One more thing I'd like to do, that conflicts with the things I have to do. Oh well.
I found out that actually you can get portable flash for firefox for U3 but when you try to download flash (as an extension from portableapps) for firefox, a message pops up that tells you that it cannot download it for firefox because a component is missing. You can still get flash for firefox but the extension is the only way that i know how to make it portable. Sadly, neither portable apps or U3 firefox versions have made a portable shockwave... but other than that, i think that U3 and portableapps have basically the same thing.
the only thing i see is that with the U3 gives you the abilty to lock your drive
so if it is lost or stolen if the ppl or ppls that stoled it if thay dont give the right passy thay will have to format the drive good thing if you dont want your data
stolen that is a defeat a + portableapps dose not give that but i like the portableapps cause it is such a nice program clean well put to gether unlike the U3 the file structure is awfull some of the apps from U3 does not work so it is your chouse so you do a conpearason you will see for your self the +'s & -'s
Firefox, thunderbird, and sunbird by mozilla, along with openffice.org for U3 are made by PA.com. You can't update firefox to 3.0 or openoffice.org to 3.0 for U3. From expirience I say:
-U3 is ok because it has password protection (as mentioned earlier) and it loads on insertion on all computers with functional USB ports (it doesn't use an autorun file which only works on most XP and newer OS). Its also good because from the U3 website, you can download a lot of apps that portable apps has to offer (such as anri-spyware and AVAS! anti-virus--but they do have clamwin). Sure, you can simply make a portable app for those programs but I didn't feel like doing so when i had U3.
-U3 isn't ok because it leaves traces on every computer it loads on (it thinks that you'll use the computer again so it leaves some files on the harddrive to load faster). It has few, if any, supported programs for it. It acts like both a CD drive and a removeble disk so it takes slightly longer to load. And the menu only loads programs from it if you use "package factory" to create .u3p programs for the system to load and you can't install the "launchpad" on any flash drive that doesn't come with it already installed.
-PA programs are cool because many of the applications on the website can't be found on U3 websites. You can create your own apps that won't leave a single trace on the computer it uses.
-PA should improve a little to make it have password protection (which so far has been impossible to create) and, I wish we could have a menu similar to the U3 launchpad that loads directly on insertion of the flash drive in ANY computer.
So... In my opinion, PA apps are better because they're more flexible to work with and you can use any working flash drive to run the apps... and no personal data is left behind. If you have a "U3 smart drive" I suggest you remove the menu and use one of PA's menus or others which are mentioned here:
https://portableapps.com/node/9829
-and keep a copy of your Launchpad on your flashdrive--just in case.
I hope this post helped because my hands are cramped after typing this really long post
Funny, when I first bought my Cruzer Micro I absolutely hated U3, and searched around for ways to get rid of it asap, because while it might not use any autorun feature and load on any system, it is the slowest piece of s$#t software. Would always take forever for my teachers to try and give me files because we had to wait 10minutes for the u3 bloatware to load. just to copy over a few files.
When I saw a link to portableApps on the Allwaysync website and checked it out I was impressed with the selection of software, all open source, and PA licensed as open. That's a winner for me, it wasn't until downloaded and tried it that I was REALLY impressed, the speed in which it loads up is simply amazing. I will definately be reccomending to a few others at uni that don't have laptops and have to rely on the schools PC's that only have 2 apps, EI and Wordpad.
you can delete it in the following way:
settings=>u3 launchpad settings=>uninstall=>unistall u3 launchpad.
Warning!
there is no way back
that option is only available in recent versions of launchpad. For older versions you need to either update it, or download the uninstaller
Also, you can download a reinstaller that will reformat your drive and put u3 back on it.
All you need can be found at http://u3.com/
there are more point of Pa and U3
U3- an usb removal tool built in. PA have a link to the Windows tool.
PA- Languages. U3 only have got English
Pa- no ads. u3 have an ad for BigFish and it can't be removed
Pa- more recent apps. u3 haven't got anything like that.
and there are more points for either
I've got u3, its ugly and slow.
annoying and you may have to pay.
I love portable apps, more freedom, better but chrome and ff has to become updated!
and for the hardcore lovers of u3 here is a pam theme for it:http://www.filestube.com/6dc3a673b52d8de703ea/go.html
and about encryption, truecrypt is getting developped.
Well you guys must be in a parallel universe.
Just as I migrated from Windows to Linux, I migrated from U3 to PA.
PA wouldn't autostart in W2kP as U3 does. So I made a shortcut for it on the 2000Pro unit. My results were opposite of yours, I find PA to be the more sluggish during a windows session.
True I was warned in articles that as you go for larger flash drives, there may be a reduction in access times. I went from a Sandisk 4gig U3 Cruzer Micro[tm] to a 16 gig in the 'Cruzer' line but a plain storage-only model. My Linux OS has its' own proprietary stick at 8gigs.
Cross-platform, Thunderbird,Firefox and OpenOffice all feel more sluggish on the 16 gig PA stick, so I may try and move the PA module over to an 8gig stick then just use the 16 for storage.
Now where in Linux you have to wait for the repository packages to be upgraded, in Windows you can go ahead and upgrade straight from Mozilla.
Across all three I'm up to FF 3.6.3 and Tbird 3.0.4, OO is different as you have to look for that Quido's port from PA to U3 or do it manually without the benefit of a wizard.
My big complaint about the U3 platform is that a U3 application must be launched from within the Launchpad, and cannot run as a stand-alone app, as other portable applications can. This is a problem for me as I use a wide range of systems in different locations and Internet Cafe's, many of which do not allow apps to auto-run from a flash drive. Some systems simply will not allow Launchpad.exe to execute. However, I can almost always use the PA platform, and if the system is configured to not allow apps to run FROM the flash drive, I can copy the application folder to the desktop and run from there. I have a 16GB Sandisk Cruzer enabled for U3, and I keep the U3 for one thing, and that is the McAfee Anti-virus U3 edition which offers real-time protection.