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42 Useful Portable Apps For Mac

Trevor Dobrygoski — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:26:28 +0000

A while back I posted 10 Useful Portable Applications to Run On Your USB Drive. I thought it was time to do the same type of post for all of the Mac folks. If you do not find something in this list to suit your needs, with a few Google searches you are likely to find something to work for you.

1. Cyberduck

Opensource Mac FTP client. If you aren’t using Cyberduck, here is a basic run through.

2. Portable VLC OS X

The play anything media player. Highly recommended if you are using multiple computers.

3. Portable Adium

All-in-one instant messenger (Google, ICQ, Yahoo, AIM, MSN…)

4. Portable Firefox Cross Plartform

Firefox for both Windows and OSX. Use Firefox with add-ons like Xmarks to sync your bookmarks.

5. Portable Thunderbird Cross Platform

The cross platform version of Mozilla Thunderbird will allow you to access your email application anywhere you have a computer with a USB port.

6. Netfixer

Easy to use webpage capture tool. Use the optional bookmarklet to activate the application.

7. Camino

An Opensource web browser built for Macs by Mozilla. Some Firefox-like add-ons are available, but not near as many. Greasemonkey scripts can also be converted for use with Camino.

8. Neverball

Game of skill and patience. Use the mouse to tilt the floor and move the ball; it sounds easy, but it isn’t.

9. FSuite

Over 40 portable apps spanning everything from games to word processors, media players to a BitTorrent client, you shouldn’t be lacking anything in this pack of applications.

10. SmillaEnlarger

A image tool used to resize, especially to magnify .BMP files in high quality.

11. iStumbler

Find AirPort, Bluetooth, Bonjour and other wireless signals and services. Lots of extra information about the networks available in the area.

12. Bean

Free rich text editor compatible with Microsoft Word.

13. ViewIt

Quick-to-open image viewer which supports nearly all commonly used image formats.

14. Inquisitor

Lets you find information on the web in the same way you use Spotlight. Start typing and it will begin to return sites based on your criteria.

15. iBackup

Simple, small application to help automate backups.

16. Paintbrush

A simple Cocoa-based image editor for when Photoshop would be too much of a hassle.

17. Maintenance

System maintenance and repair utility, with different versions for Tiger and Leopard. Some uses are: repair permissions, delete applications, reset Spotlight’s Index, run periodic scripts…

18. Tofu

Text reader that arranges text on a page in columns sized properly for the window you have open. No scrolling up and down, just left to right.

19.TextWrangler

Very powerful very free text editor great for distraction free writing.

20. Portable Abiword

Opensource word processor. Read, write and save to OpenOffice.org, Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, Rich Text Format.

21. Xmind

Opensource mind mapping and collaboration application.

22. Portable Gimp

Opensource image editing. Many very powerful features in a very lightweight package.

23. Portable Inkscape

Opensource graphics editor similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw or Freehand

24. Portable OpenOffice.org OS X

Complete Opensource office suite able to read and write to most commonly used file types.

25. AppCleaner

An app uninstaller that removes all of the accompanying application files.

26. PureFTPdManager

Opensource multi-user Secure FTP manager, great fro servers or networks.

27. Portable Nvu OS X

Opensource web authoring similar to Dreamweaver

28. Portable Audacity OS X

Opensource recording and editing software.

29. Google Chrome

Google’s web browser on a stick.

30. Smultron

Simple text editor with a massive amount of features

31. Highlight

Screen highlighter (great for presentations)

32. OnyX

Maintenance, optimization, and personalization utility (10.4 or 10.5

33. uTorrent

P2P file transfer. (Here are some set up instructions)

34. Fugu

An opensource SFTP, SCP and SSH client. Esay to set up and use.

35. Portable Check Off

Stand alone to-do manager.

36. Transmission

BitTorrent client. Great for creating and downloading torrent files.

*37 through 42 are listed to only work with OSX 10.4

37. Portable Safari

Bookmarks and preferences on your portable drive.

38. Portable Mail

The same mail and preferences on your portable drive you are used to on your main Mac (use with Portable Address Book).

39. Portable iCal

All your calendar events can go with you on your portable drive.

40. Portable Address Book

Contacts are kind of essential, take them with you on your portable drive.

41. Portable iChat

Keep all your buddies on your portable drive.

42. SyncPAppX

Sync your portable apps with local ones.

Which portable Mac apps do you use?

image credit: Michael Dale Bernard

42 Useful Portable Apps For Mac originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

10 Useful Portable Applications to Run On Your USB Drive

Trevor Dobrygoski — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:15:03 +0000

Portable applications are modified versions of a desktop application that can be run on a USB drive. iPods, USB flash drives, external hard drives or any other portable device can be used. When the applications are stored on said device, the application can be used on any computer running the proper operating system by being plugged into the USB port on a computer. Most of the portable applications are still operating system dependent, but many have cross platform versions. Many open source and a few OEM applications have a portable counterparts. Numerous utility programs are available in a portable version as well.

Choose Wisely

When choosing a portable drive to use, there are a couple things to think about. Not every portable drive will work well for running an application. The write and read speed is crucial here. If the flash drive has a low speed, it will not work for running Firefox portable for example. Too much data is going back and forth so the program will freeze up or crash. I’m not saying you need to spend a lot of money on a drive, just take a look at the specifications before you buy. Something to take into consideration if you are using a SD card, there may be speed limitations imposed by the device the card is in.

1. PStart

PStart is essentially a start menu for information on your USB drive. This handy little application hangs out in the tool bar and runs in the background. When right clicked, a screen pops up and shows all of the programs you have added shortcuts for. Believe me, when I found this amazing little piece of software, it made using my USB drive A LOT easier.

2. Pidgin

Pidgin is an on open source instant messaging client. There are plug-ins which allow it to work with almost all the protocols available including Facebook, twitter and Myspace. Some other plug-ins allow people on your buddy list to see what your listening to on Last.fm or various other media players while you type to them.

3. VLC

VLC is known to most as a simplistic media player that plays any kind of audio or video format you can throw at it. That being said, there is no reason not to have this in your portable arsenal.

4. Firefox

Firefox is another no brainer. It offers all the functionality of the web version, except it fits in your pocket. All of the add-ons and special feature you may use when you are at home are now travel sized. The beauty of using Firefox from the USB drive is, none of your information is left on the computer you are using; Everything is saved on the portable drive. Other Mozilla applications such as Thunderbird and Sunbird are available in a portable version too.

5. uTorrent

uTorrent is a very popular and very light weight BitTorrent client. It uses a very low amount of system resources making it a great addition to any portable drive.

6. GIMP

Gimp is a great free replacement for Photoshop. The main difference between GIMP and Photoshop are the menus.

7. KeePass Password Safe

KeePass Password Safe saves you from having to remember all of your passwords. You choose one master password, that’s it. Isn’t that a lot easier than remembering the log in for all of your email accounts, network password and log in info for all those websites? I thought so.

8. Filezilla

Filezilla is a FTP uploader. If you have a website or blog and need to upload files while on the go, this is your go to application. With its drag and drop support and straight forward set up, it is a great cross platform FTP uploader.

9. 7Zip

7Zip is a great file decompression software that works with 18 different file types. It can also compress files into 5 different file types. The compression rate is greater than Winzip (according to the 7Zip site).

10. Sudoku

Sudoku is a very addictive game that I would have a hard time leaving out. It is always a good idea to have a way to let your mind wander; With a game that makes you think in a strategic way, your exercising your brain as you play. How can anyone say exercising your mind is a waste of time? If you aren’t into games like this, other games are out there like poker, minesweeper knockoffs and others.

What other applications do you take with you on the road?

Image credit :R-evolution Photography

10 Useful Portable Applications to Run On Your USB Drive originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)