PortableApps.com Platform 23.1: More Linux Improvements, App Font Switching, Locale Updates, and more

John T. Haller's picture
Submitted by John T. Haller on January 11, 2023 - 5:47pm

PortableApps.com is proud to announce the PortableApps.com Platform 23.1 release. This release adds automatic app font switching, font integration for more Linux distributions under Wine, new locales, and more. Read on for all the details...(permalink)

Existing Platform users can automatically update by clicking Help - Check for Updates.

New in 23.1

In addition to the larger changes in 23.0, this release adds automatic app font switching support where appropriate allowing apps to change fonts to match your current operating system; font integration support for Elementary OS, OpenSUSE Gnome, Zorin under Wine; Amharic and Twi locales; adds Oracle JRE detection and display in the About window; and updates 3 locales. Full details on all versions are in the PortableApps.com Platform changelog.

New in 23.0

This release adds full detection of Wine/ReactOS/Linux to the platform. Coupled with that is font matching for ReactOS, Ubuntu, Pop!_OS, Debian, CentOS, Fedora, Mint, Arch, openSUSE, Kali, Manjaro, and Gentoo to better blend with host operating system. Windows 11 font matching has also been added. Font adjustments for the menu, options, about, dialog, and rename windows are incorporated into all of these so far with more coming soon. The Delphi compiler has been updated to 11.2 for better performance. Full details on all versions are in the PortableApps.com Platform changelog.

Legacy App Packages for Windows XP, Vista, 7 and more

We're packaging and maintaining a list of legacy versions of apps for Windows XP, Vista and 7 as apps drop support for these older versions of Windows. Apps like LibreOffice, Inkscape, Blender, and more that will still work on older PCs that won't be automatically updated to an incompatible version by the PA.c Platform. Help us track down each old release and make it available for all at portableapps.com/legacy.

Platform Features

As always, the PortableApps.com Platform is packed with great features like:

  • Automatic App Closing - Closing down and getting going is easier than ever with the platform automatically (and safely) closing your running portable apps and letting you know which ones need to be closed before you eject and finish syncing your cloud drive.
  • Awesome Themes - The modern default theme matches well with Windows 11, 10, 8 and 7. Plus all your favorite classic themes are included.
  • Cascading Tray App Menu - Get quick access to all your apps with a right click in the system tray
  • Always-Ready Search - The app search box is always visible and ready by default, so you can open the platform - possibly with the CTRL-ALT-SPACE hotkey - and just start typing to launch your favorite app. You can even search in app descriptions if you'd like by ticking a box in Options
  • Proxy Support - The connections tab in Options lets you automatically or manually configure the platform to work with your internet proxy
  • Full Featured Installer - The Platform installer can detect and install to your portable devices, synced cloud directories, local machine, and more
  • Fast Updater / App Store - Quickly check for updates to your existing apps and find new ones by name, category, release date, and more
  • Eject or Power Off - For local users, the eject button automatically switches to a shutdown/restart/log off button, bringing up the Windows prompt to select your choice. You can also right-click on the button to select to show either eject or shutdown/restart/log off.
  • Portable Fonts - Take all your fonts with you and use them in all your portable apps
  • Organize Your Apps Your Way - Use the default of favorites and most used apps with all apps by category on the second page or switch it up by selecting alphabetical apps, categories and favorites by default, and other options
  • All the fixes and features are details in the PortableApps.com Platform Changelog

Next Version, Translators Needed

We're starting work on the next beta soon and we'll be going over the list of requested features and bugs to prioritize the additions and fixes in the next couple release. We'll be needing more translators watching the beta channel and translating the few new features in this release.

Ongoing Donation Drive

PortableApps.com needs your help to keep bringing you great software! To learn more, read a personal appeal from PortableApps.com founder John T. Haller. Now you can sponsor the PortableApps.com Platform and help us keep delivering awesome software for free. With options ranging from having your name included to a full-blown site-wide sponsorship, there's a good fit for everyone. Sponsor us today and be a part of the action! Ad revenue and donations have decreased drastically due to the global pandemic and associated economic impact, so we need your help more than ever.

We also accept donations of any size to help with development and hosting:

Make a Donation - Please help support PortableApps.com's development and hosting

Discussing The Release, Enhancements and Bug Reports

As there is much to discuss with this new release, we've separated out a few forum threads for discussing:

Download Today

You can download the new version of the PortableApps.com Platform from the download page. Get it today!

Please note that any bug reports and feature requests go in the PortableApps.com Platform Bug Report and Feature Request Tracker.

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Comments

John T. Haller's picture

The initial release did not have a digital signature due to a build error. The SHA256 hash kept things secure for downloads and updates, though. A signed version was later uploaded in its place.

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