Portable apps are those apps that can be saved on a USB drive and run directly from there, without requiring any installation. Well, why would you need it? That is because these portable apps let you use your USB pen drive in smarter ways, beyond just carrying data. These apps let you work with your data from your USB drive while letting you maintain your privacy even while you are working in some other computer. Following is a list of five lightweight, easy-to-use apps that any mobile data user would find handy.
Firefox Portable: If Firefox is your preferred browser, the cool Firefox portable is what you need for your USB drive. Download it and enjoy all the Firefox advantages from your USB drive – lightning fast speed, tabbed browsing, private browsing and even session restore.
VLC Media Player Portable: If you are a fan of media players and a data traveler at the same time, you will love to carry this one on your USB device. VLC media player plays almost all media files (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, XviD, WMV, mp3, CDs, DVDs… well virtually everything) and hence is super handy in its portable avatar. You can play the VLC player from your USB drive directly i.e. without installing it in the computer, enjoy the music and leave without leaving any trace of your personal data behind.
GIMP: The GIMP portable is an extremely handy app for those who like to travel around with a backpack, a camera and want to edit their images on the fly. Especially since GIMP works for both Windows and Linux, it is super cool to carry it in your USB pen drive and do quick-on-the fly editing on any computer, without leaving your personal data there.
7-Zip Portable: 7 Zip Portable lets you carry your archive with you and work with your compressed 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR files and more on the go on any computer. Besides, it works on the iPod, external hard drive as well as a CD drive. And again, as with portable apps, you don’t need to install anything on the computer itself.
Pidgin Portable: This is one of the most handy portable apps as it lets you carry your Pidgin client in your USB drive, plug it into any computer and let you enjoy the chatting and instant messaging facilities across your many social networking and/or instant messaging accounts.
These portable apps are designed to increase your mobility and efficiency on the go. Feel free to let us know about other similar portable apps.
Guest author Srikanth blogs at Tech Inspiration at ekoob.com about web applications, tech tips and software reviews. Srikanth is a star guest blogger on QOT and has his own tags. You can also write guest articles and become a star guest blogger.