Application Launchers

I say don't change the name and just stick to calling it Libertà. I don't think you'll find a much better name than that for a portable apps menu.

You leave it as Libertà. I think that sounds good.

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Deuce {The Core}
"Portable Software: Just the beginning.

Glad to see that most people like my skinable launchpad !
I have no set idea yet about how we could merge our efforts, basically the technology we used will for a large part determine that.
I'll just summerize the current features and things that I think need to be considered.

So to start of with the current Features of Launchpad:

• Clicking an app in the list will run the app.
• Launchpad is supposed to be stored along side the portable applications on your usb stick.
• Skin has to contain the list of all apps.
• Listbox is hot selectable and translucent.
• No taskbar icon, that is going to be a separate (50KB) app (PortableAutostart)
• Source is C++, wxWidgets-2.6.3 so MacOSX and Linux versions are possibilities.
• GPL license
• Note that wxWidgets apps with this much eye candy get rather big, 700KB upx-ed and 2MB fully expanded.

Planned Features of Launchpad

• Change the skin into a template that gets expanded with apps actually present on the stick
• Device remove button (Catch 22) running an app from the stick will prevent the stick from being removed so I'll need to work around that.
• Allow configuration of the list of apps and whether apps should be autostarted on stick insertion.
• Allow automatic running of autostart apps when called with -autostart commandline parameter.
• External resources, i.e. read the actual skin from files on the usb stick

PortableAutostart app (50KB) that

• Can optionally be installed on a PC to monitor stick insertion/removal and support autostart functionality for everybody without Windows XP.
• Puts an icon into the taskbar for every stick with a startmenu/launchpad (takes icon from the exe)
• Runs the launchpad/startmenu app on stick insertion with -autostart commandline parameter to start autostart portableapps.
• Runs the startmenu/launchpad when taskbar icon is clicked.

Skinning:
I'm using the light-weight HTML control provided by wxWidgets to skin my GUI.
All HTML bitmaps and icons are stored inside the exe as resources.

PortableApps Menu is just about at alpha stage. I'm releasing it with the next version of the Suite. I'll give a breakdown of the current feature-set, all of which are implemented and working:

• Clicking an app launches the app
• Stored alongside the apps in its own directory within the PortableApps directory
• Automatically launches when drive inserted into Windows XP SP2 systems
• Ability to disable auto-launch
• Stub launcher in drive root directory for easy launching on non-WinXP SP2 systems
• System tray icon: click it to show menu, click off menu to hide
• Backup/Restore of apps, data or both based on the new directory layouts
• Sync to local machine settings (Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice.org and Gaim)
• Skinnable (menu side graphic, background, fonts, etc)
• Eject brings up removable device manager
• License a combination of some public domain code and my own original GPL code
• Delphi and NSIS
• Under 500k

I think there should only be a single menu and it should be either entirely tray-based or have a dockable piece that it slides out of (perhaps similar to Ceedo). Having two versions is just asking for confusion. And having a persistent window isn't very user-friendly. I also think having two different menus... one right-click on minimized one when restored... is confusing as well. A single complete menu is the best end-user experience, IMHO.

I also don't think registry rapper inclusion is a good idea... at least in its current incarnation. Prompting to do a wrap is not end-user friendly... most end-users don't even know what the registry is. Each app should be analyzed and a custom launcher that automatically backs up and restores each necessary key is a much better option. It is more work in terms of development, but it is much more end-user friendly. (Side note: For apps that will be listed in the apps directory here, modifying keys on a foreign system in a launcher and not restoring them when the app closes is a complete no-no.)

As for naming, sorry to say, but, I'm honestly not very partial to Liberta. The name will likely get a bit lost. There are currently 12 million hits on google for the word. And noone knows how to type the accented a. Plus, as for applicability, we're really just making a menu with some handy features (backup/restore, sync, etc). If it were more like enabling any app to be portable, the name might be more appropo.

PortableApps Menu is just a working title. I hadn't figured out what I was gonna call it.

Any other thoughts, ideas, suggestions, criticisms, food to throw?

Regards,
John

Hey Guys,

I have been using portable applications now for quite some time and have to say you guys rock!!

One functionality that is available in PSTART is adding folders (like shortcuts). This is great for accessing my documents on the USB drive. Any way that I can set the files to open with a preset program? So that when I select an excel worksheet it automatically loads with Open office from my key?

If not maybe that might be something that you can add into your launcher. Something simple though, for example any folders you have placed in the application menu automatically populate when the launcher starts, and gets all file names and places them in a sub folder of the menu. And also in the settings save common associations such that if a file is clicked that has an associate the corresponding portable app is launched!

Ron

I am confused. Is there some sumurize in detail?
for example, a software puts some data in c:\Documents and Settings\$username$\Application Data\, so which app can help me to make it portable by put everthing in the same fold of the software?

IN NEED A DOWNLOAD LINK FOR Libertà

It could have several name, but I guess something as "fireliberty" or "gofree" it will do.
Naos