I've been a big fan of portable apps for years, since before anyone even came up with the word "portable" to describe them. As such, when a portable version of my favorite browser came out I began using it. Opera@USB has never given me trouble.
Recently I decided to try the PAF version from here, figuring the standardized format is a good thing. Imagine my surprise when I made a minor move, not even to a different drive, and it complained!
http://i51.tinypic.com/ak7nus.jpg
Opera, Portable Edition (PortableApps.com Launcher)
The path to Opera, Portable Edition has changed, since it was last started, from \tmp\whateverfoldername to \Personal\someotherfoldername. Moving portable apps like this is not advised, and some features may not work. Are you sure you want to continue?
What are the features that may not work?
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This is because you changed paths. Many PortableApps do not work properly if you change paths, only when you change drives.
As for what features won't work, that depends on the application. I don't know right now what, if anything, is affected.
Some internal paths may not be portablized. These are settings that will actually break within a standard Opera install on a portable device (Opera@USB is just a standard Opera install zipped up with no additional portablization code). We just have the launcher warn you at the moment for it, whereas Opera and Opera@USB will just silently break these paths. We do portablize the drive letter, switching it from F to G, for example, as you move PCs for any settings in your operaprefs.ini. In a standard Opera install on a portable device like Opera@USB, any path settings like this will just break.
In the upcoming 11.10 release, we'll also be portablizing the full paths for you. So you could have it in your Documents directory synced between C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Documents\Synced\OperaPortable... and C:\Users\UserName\Documents\Synced\OperaPortable... via a cloud drive or other sync setup and it will continue to work.
It should be noted that a path change may only impact some specific Opera features and some specific Opera add-ons. Setting a download folder would be one example.
There are quite a few differences between 'portable' apps in zip files and our definition of portable:
https://portableapps.com/about/what_is_a_portable_app#whypaf
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I see. I have always taken these things as natural; if I explicitly specify an absolute default download path I would never expect it to work when that path changes.
In practice I have found almost nothing in Opera@USB that is affected by changing paths (as long as everything is specified as relative) so I should have nothing to worry about with PAF Opera. I suppose other users may experience different results.
I think just the stuff that is specified as full paths (which is everything using paths in settings unless you manually set relative ones) is affected. But for most regular users of Opera, I think it's just the download directory.
For other apps, some don't accept relative paths, some leave other bits behind (registry, temp, appdata, etc) some convert relative paths to full on each run. It's also just a convenience to not have to think 'ok, I want two directories up from this so ..\..\ and then the path from there' (and possibly having to manually put that in the INI yourself if the GUI doesn't like it) and just be able to use file and directory browse dialogs just like you would in local software.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!