Hi everybody, first post here.
I find this site great. I've just downloaded some of my favourite apps, like Firefox, VLC... I'd like to share some thoughts about portability...
1) What are the advantages of NON-PORTABLE apps?
I think portable apps SHOULD leave a cleaner system and run smoothly even if used on the hard drive, isn't it? So, why use non-portable ones? For example... is there any reason according to you for using firefox instead of its portable version?
2) What are the disavantages of PORTABLE apps?
- what happens when UPDATING to newer versions? Should I remove the whole app-folder (thus losing settings) or should I overwrite?
- What is the policy about file-associations? Should a portable app self-associate to some kind of filetype or not (neither if there's no other currently installed app to handle it)
1) and 2) are just because the advantages of portable are evident to all...
3) A (big?) step forward... Why not integrate PortableApps Suite with something like InstallPad or filehippo.com Update Checker? I.E. adding auto-downloading and auto-update features?
4) On the recurring question "make (almost) every app portable".. for apps who actually don't require files to be placed in system folders.. one could monitor what's being copied / written to registry during install and according to that information:
1) make a .reg file out of it
2) make a batch doing:
- add registry info
- run app
- remove registry info
What do you think about this method?
Probably I'm just asking too much, I guess 
bye,
ficod.
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InstallPad requires .NET 2.0 which doesn't make it very portable.
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"Because they stand on a wall and say, 'Nothing is going to hurt you tonight. Not on my watch.'" (A Few Good Men)
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Some answers...
Hope it helped a little.
“Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts” - Richard P. Feynman
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
RE: "So, why use non-portable ones?"
Why indeed...
Well, becuz publisher's apps typically are NOT written to be portable, esp. commercial apps.
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RE: "Should a portable app self-associate to some kind of filetype or not (neither if there's no other currently installed app to handle it)"
Ideally, such apps should include an OPTION to associate said app with whatever filetypes it commonly uses, and NOT have any default associations set.
This allows for maximum flexibility for us users.
Hope this helps, or at least informs.
Adios.
"I don't hate cats...as long as they stay on the freeway, where they belong."
- Brad Stine
The issue is that the PortableApps.com applications are size-optimized. That means that they may run slower, and that some applications will have some (storage-intensive) features missing.
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chris
It is not your audience's responsibility to puzzle out what you intended to say; it is your responsibility to express yourself so clearly that no one with a modicum of intelligence and good will could possibly mistake your meaning.
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chris
It is not your audience's responsibility to puzzle out what you intended to say; it is your responsibility to express yourself so clearly that no one with a modicum of intelligence and good will could possibly mistake your meaning.