Hi,
I had to find a title... Please let me explain what I meant by "naturally portable".
I have been using portable apps for a while and find it very handy. Most of the time, I download them from portableappsCom (thanks a lot). However, some apps can be downloaded directly from their own websites as a portable bundle, usually a zip file. One just unzip and runs the exe.
Examples : VirtualDub, FreeFileSync (installer provides a portable installation type), WinMerge.
Could someone please explain why those apps have also been bundled in the portableappsCom way? My guess is that it allows inclusion in the portableappsCom Platform, but is there any other advantage using the portableappsCom app over the "natural" one?
PS: URLs modified because the spam filter blocked my post.
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Integration with the Platform is a major bonus, which provides a number of benefits such as being available in the App Directory, automatic updating, language switching and a few other things.
The primary benefit of PortableApps vs portable apps for end-users in my opinion is the guarantee that your portable application is actually portable.
Many of the zipped "portable" apps will happily leave settings and other files and folders behind on any PC you use it on. This means you could lose settings as you move PCs, or just leave junk behind that shouldn't be there, in the registry, file system, or both.
PortableApps however has a standard that all apps must adhere to that ensures your user settings are always with the app, and that the app doesn't leave junk behind on every PC (within reason, there are some things we don't remove or mess with such as registry entries automatically created by Windows or apps installed on the PC like a firewall or antivirus).
Additionally, more details are here: https://portableapps.com/about/what_is_a_portable_app#whypaf
The biggest benefits are the easy install/upgrade (especially with the platform), the truly portable nature of our apps (no cruft left behind, no random bits breaking as paths change between PCs as with many ZIP apps), and the consistency (they all work the same way, just run them... no need to create a settings file, pass a command line switch, set an environment variable, etc).
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
and the sadness of FFS which should be one of ours and isn't because it really is best in class
On which note I see people on the FFS lists are compiling themselves so maybe we'll discover the barrier in months to come.
P.S. if you've half a brain you don't actually need the PA bit to decide.
Wm
Thank you very much to all for your helpful replies.