Do you find yourself frustrated when on the go, without all your applications and data? Copy the PortableApps software suite to a USB flash drive, iPod, or similar device, plug the unit into a PC, and all your apps–plus your contacts, documents, and bookmarks–are available.
I move from computer to computer a great deal (I mean PCs, even though I’m investigating on similar Mac-based solutions). More often than not, the computer I’m at doesn’t always have all the software I might need. It’s not always possible to just go and install anything I fancy on any machine I happen to use and this is where Portable Apps comes to the rescue.
It comes handy too now that Netbooks are becoming so popular!
Portable Apps Suite is effectively a wrapper for a number of very useful applications that can be installed on a USB flash drive (or any USB storage device, for that matter). To fire it up, simply double-click the StartPortableApps.exe on your USB device and you’re greeted with a nice little menu, similar to the Windows Start Menu, as can be seen on the screenshot above.
There are currently three versions of the Portable Apps Suite available for download. They only really differ in the amount of pre-installed applications they contain. Here are the various configurations:
PortableApps Suite (Standard Edition): ClamWin Portable (antivirus), Mozilla Firefox – Portable Edition (web browser), Gaim Portable (instant messaging), OpenOffice.org Portable (office suite), Sudoku Portable (puzzle game), Mozilla Sunbird – Portable Edition (calendar/task manager) and Mozilla Thunderbird – Portable Edition (email client) and runs comfortably from a 512MB drive.
PortableApps Suite (Lite Edition): Uses AbiWord Portable (word processor) instead of OpenOffice.org Portable and runs comfortably from a 256MB drive.
PortableApps Suite (Base Edition): If you’d like to pick and choose exactly which apps to include, you can try Portable Apps Suite (Base Edition). This is a stripped down package with just the PortableApps Menu, PortableApps Backup utility and custom folders, icons and autorun. It’s less than 1MB installed, so it’s a great option for smaller drives.My base download was the Standard Edition, to which I’ve added FileZilla, Nvu Portable, KeyPass and one or two others on a Kingston 8 GB.The usefulness of this application cannot be stressed enough. I don’t find many things more frustrating than when I need to go and change something on a computer I don’t normally have access to, only to find that my preferred software is not available. Now it’s simply a matter of popping in my pen drive and selecting the desired application. Nothing could be simpler.To download any new applications, you simply download the executable, then select “Install a new app” from the Suite’s menu and select the new application. To “uninstall” an application, you only need delete the directory from your pen drive. If only all application installation/uninstallations were this simple!
The usual frenzy around SF MacWorld finally ended up with the announcement of the MacBook Air.
The thinnest Mac ever.
- a slimmer Core 2 Duo processor specially built by Intel for Apple and 60% of the original Core 2 Duo,
- standard 2 GB RAM,
- 80 GB HD or (optional) 64 GB SSD,
- 13,3″ eLed display.
- battery life: 5 hours…
- full wireless (over the Air) connectivity… of course!
- 802.11N + Bluetooth 2.0 EDR,
- weight: 3 pounds (almost 1.3 kg)
The MacBook Air has no built-in SuperDrive, an external unit, USB-powered, was announced too and will cost US$ 99.
Thanks to a new utility called RemoteDisk, running on both PCs and Macs, the DVD unit is almost useless, since you’re enabled to use some other PC/Mac DVD unit remotely.
Retail price of the MacBook Air is US$ 1,799 with more options to become available anytime soon.
MacNN reports that Apple’s MacBook took one of the top three sales spots during Amazon.com’s holiday season: Amazon.com announced the results of its 2007 holiday season, revealing Apple’s MacBook as one of the top sellers in the online retailer’s PC category, more exactly in the list of products most frequently purchased as gifts by Amazon.com customers in 2007.
Since its update, as we reported in May, the Apple MacBook surged as one of the best selling notebook Macs and you can see it almost everywhere (Starbucks, college, business room etc.).
A handy, pocket-sized device that combines an easy-to-use wireless network scanner, that works even without turning on your computer, and a USB-connected Wireless-G network adapter.
Now you can scan for available wireless connectivity before turning on your computer.
If the scanner does find a network, just plug it into your PC and get connected: detected hotspots will be shown on a signal-power basis, from the most powerful to the least.
The intelligent scanning system is even able to filter other 2.4 GHz sources such as microwaves, bluetooth devices and cordless phones.
This handy road warrior accessory retails for around US$ 89.99 (before rebate)
Apple has announced an update to its MacBook Pro line of notebooks with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, memory up to 4GB thanks to the new “Santa Rosa” chipset architecture, and high-speed graphics with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT. The 15-inch model sports a new mercury-free, power-efficient LED-backlit display, while the 17-inch model has an optional high-resolution 1920-by-1200 display. Rounding up the high end specs, all models include a built-in iSight video camera, MagSafe Power Adapter, and built-in 802.11n wireless networking.
Every MacBook Pro includes an Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB of shared L2 cache, an 800 MHz frontside bus and 2GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory, with 2.2 GHz and 2.4 GHz processor options for the 15-inch models, and a 2.4 GHz processor powering the 17-inch.
For full specs and availability visit the Apple website. Basic configurations and pricing are as follows:
Apple has updated its consumer line of MacBook laptops adding faster processors (Intel’s Core 2 Duo), bumping up the RAM to 1GB and offering larger hard drives. The popular 13.3″ laptops still come in the familiar three configurations, with two white models and a high end black one, built-in iSight, 802.11n wireless networking and OS X Tiger and iLife suite preloaded. The lineup with the new processors is as follows:
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 13.3″ White MacBook, 80GB hard drive, 1GB RAM, Intel Graphics 950, RRP $1099
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 13.3″ White MacBook, 120GB hard drive, 1GB RAM. Intel Graphics 950, RRP$1299
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 13.3″ Black MacBook, 160GB hard drive, 1GB RAM, Intel Graphics 950, RRP $1499
The new MacBooks are available for purchase now from the Apple Store
and other selected retailers.
AMD has today launched its ATI Radeon HD 2000 series of graphic card. They feature, according to the company’s website, a series of “firsts” in the graphics market: second-generation Unified Shader Architecture (USA), a 512-bit memory bus designed for full performance high dynamic range (HDR) rendering, and new Unified Video Decoder (UVD) technology for high-fidelity HD media playback. The HD 2000 series also takes full advantage of DirectX 10 and Windows Vista’s features, as well as the latest OpenGL programs. The new chips have built-in Crossfire capability, allowing users to pair up 2 cards in PCI Express slots without the need of any additional hardware or cables. AMD’s guide design can include HDMI-out with audio, thus completing the process of transforming PCs into real media hubs in the modern home.
This HD revolution involves notebooks as well as desktops: the Mobility Radeon HD series features the same architecture in a package that uses smaller 65 nm process technology in order to achieve passive cooling and promises lower power consumption. At the same time, these powerful chips should relieve the main CPU from the more taxing graphic tasks, allowing next-gen HD content to be enjoyed on even the smaller, thin portable computers.
The Radeon HD 2000 series for desktops will be available in the next few days, with the first Mobility models set to launch in new laptops by the end of the month.
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Do you find yourself frustrated when on the go, without all your applications and data? Copy the PortableApps software suite to a USB flash drive
The usual frenzy around SF MacWorld finally ended up with the announcement of the 
is much more!
line of notebooks with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, memory up to 4GB thanks to the new “Santa Rosa” chipset architecture, and high-speed graphics with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT. The 15-inch model sports a new mercury-free, power-efficient LED-backlit display, while the 17-inch model has an optional high-resolution 1920-by-1200 display. Rounding up the high end specs, all models include a built-in iSight video camera, MagSafe Power Adapter, and built-in 802.11n wireless networking.
Every 
