Portable software

Portable application

A portable application , sometimes also called standalone, is a computer software program designed to run independently from an operating system...

 is a class of software

Computer program

A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...

 that is suitable for use on portable drives such as a USB (thumb) drive

USB flash drive

A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...

 or digital audio player or PDA

PDA

A PDA is most commonly a Personal digital assistant, also known as a Personal data assistant, a mobile electronic device.PDA may also refer to:In science, medicine and technology:...

 with "drive mode", although any external hard drive can be used.
The concept of carrying one's favored applications, utilities, and files on a portable drive for use on any computer is one which has evolved considerably in recent years.

Programs in this category (also known as portable applications) are typically 'lite' versions of their parent software, but there are many exceptions.

To be considered portable, for purpose of this list, a software program must:

1. Not require any kind of formal installation onto a computer's permanent storage device to be executed, and can be stored on a removable storage device such as USB flash drive, enabling it to be used on multiple computers.
2. Settings are stored with, and can be carried around with, the software (i.e., they are written to the USB drive). If the registry is used to store settings, the application's configuration isn't portable, and must be set up on every PC it is used on
3. Leaves a zero (or near-zero) "footprint" on any PC it is run on after being used. i.e., All temporary files/registry settings should be removed once the program has exited, and files created by the user can be saved directly to the same removable media as the application is stored on.

Generally, smaller utility

Utility

In economics, utility is a measure of customer satisfaction, referring to the total satisfaction received by a consumer from consuming a good or service....

/toolkit

Toolkit

A toolkit is an assembly of tools; set of basic building units for graphical user interfaces.Things called toolkits include:* Abstract Window Toolkit* Accessibility Toolkit* Adventure Game Toolkit* B-Toolkit* Battlefield Mod Development Toolkit...

 software is inherently fairly portable; though larger applications are sometimes changed in order to allow a portable versions to be released (e.g., Opera

Opera (web browser)

Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...

@USB and OperaTor

OperaTor

Operator YAPO is a portable version of the Opera web browser. It can be installed on portable data storage devices like pendrives, USB sticks and hard drives.-History:...

).

Bundles of applications

• AccessApps
  AccessApps
  AccessApps is an initiative supported by the JISC Regional Support Centres and JISC TechDis. It consists of over 50 open source and freeware Microsoft Windows applications, running from a USB stick...
  
  
• Ceedo
  Ceedo
  Ceedo is a software virtualization platform developed by Israeli company Ceedo Technologies. The term "Ceedo" refers both to the company and to the virtual workspace client on which the company's products are based....
  
  
• MojoPac
  MojoPac
  MojoPac is an application virtualization product from RingCube Technologies. MojoPac turns any USB 2.0 storage device, into a portable computing environment. The term "MojoPac" is used by the company to refer to the software application, the virtualized environment running inside this software, and...
  
  
• LiberKey
  LiberKey
  LiberKey is a platform for freeware, free and open source portable software for Windows. It includes some unique features in the area of Portable Application Suites, like dedicated tools for portabilization , portable file associations, portable desktop shortcuts and online updates of...
  
  
• PortableApps.com
  PortableApps.com
  PortableApps.com is a site offering portable software for Windows.The site was founded by John T. Haller and includes contributions from over 100 people, including developers, designers and translators.-History:...
  
  
• U3
  U3
  U3 was a joint venture between SanDisk and M-Systems , producing a proprietary method of launching Windows applications from special USB flash drives. Flash drives adhering to the U3 specification are termed "U3 smart drives"....
  
  
• WebLaminarTools
  WebLaminarTools
  WebLaminarTools "WLT" is a mashup supported by Weblaminar LLC. It consists of over 35 open source and freeware applications, running on Microsoft Windows from a USB stick. WebLaminarTools provides tools to support IT administrators, engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs...
  
  
• WinPenPack
  WinPenPack
  winPenPack is an open source software application suite for Windows.It is a collection of open source applications that have been modified to be executed directly from a USB flash drive without prior installation.WinPenPack programs are distributed as a free software, and can be downloaded...
  
  

Application launchers

• Appetizer
  Appetizer (software)
  Appetizer is an open source dock for Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7, which allows organizing the user's shortcuts and applications. It can be customized via skins and plugins and is available in 25 languages. Various other features are available including support for keyboard shortcuts, custom icons...
  
   (Dock
  Dock (computing)
  The Dock is a prominent feature of the graphical user interface of the Mac OS X operating system. It is used to launch applications and switch between running applications...
  
   application)
• ASuite
  ASuite
  ASuite is a free open source application launcher for Windows. -Program usage:In the main window, under the List tab, user can be able to create and manage own customized application list. While Search tab will let you look for item names....
  
  
• Launchy
  Launchy
  Launchy is a free open source application launcher for Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux. It indexes shortcuts in the start menu, and files in specific folders to allow quicker access to programs without opening the start menu itself, or browsing to the relevant folder.-Program usage:Launchy...
  
  
• OpenDisc
  OpenDisc
  The OpenDisc project offers a selection of high quality open source software on a disc for Microsoft Windows users. The aims of the project are "to provide a free alternative to costly software, with equal or often better quality equivalents to proprietary, shareware or freeware software for...
  
  
• PStart
• RocketDock
  RocketDock
  RocketDock is an application launcher developed by PolyVector and Skunkie of Punk Labs, working with artist Zachary Denton, for Windows that provides a dock similar to that of the Mac OS X Aqua GUI...
  
  
• SyMenu
  SyMenu
  SyMenu is a portable launcher menu hosted by UGMFree.SyMenu is compatible with the Microsoft Windows O.S. and required .NET Framework 2.0.-Description:SyMenu is a portable launcher menu so it can reside on any removable drive....
  
  

Scripting Languages

• Portable Python
  Python (programming language)
  Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...
  
  
• Portable NSIS
  Nullsoft Scriptable Install System
  Nullsoft Scriptable Install System is a script-driven Windows installation system with minimal overhead backed by Nullsoft, the creators of Winamp...
  
   Version
• Portable AutoIt
  AutoIt
  AutoIt is a freeware automation language for Microsoft Windows. In its earliest release, the software was primarily intended to create automation scripts for Microsoft Windows programs but has since grown to include enhancements in both programming language design and overall functionality.With...
  
  
• Portable AutoHotkey
  AutoHotkey
  AutoHotkey is a free, open source macro-creation and automation software utility which allows users to automate repetitive tasks. Any application user interface can be modified by AutoHotkey...
  
   (for portability download the zip file from autohotkey.com)

IDEs

• Alice IDE
  Alice (software)
  Alice is a freeware object-oriented educational programming language with an integrated development environment . Later versions are implemented in Java. Alice uses a drag and drop environment to create computer animations using 3D models...
  
  
• Portable Eclipse
  Eclipse (software)
  Eclipse is a multi-language software development environment comprising an integrated development environment and an extensible plug-in system...
  
  
• Portable Code::Blocks
  Code::Blocks
  Code::Blocks is a free and open source, cross-platform IDE which supports multiple compilers including GCC and MSVC. It is developed in C++ using wxWidgets as the GUI toolkit. Using a plugin architecture, its capabilities and features are defined by the provided plugins.Currently, Code::Blocks is...
  
   (needs MinGW installed, which is portable too)
• Portable Dev-C++
  Dev-C++
  Dev-C++ is a free integrated development environment distributed under the GNU General Public License for programming in C and C++. MinGW, a free compiler, is bundled with it. The IDE is written in Delphi....
  
  
• Hackety Hack
  Hackety Hack
  Hackety Hack is an open source application that teaches individuals how to create software. It combines an IDE with an extensive Lessons system. The cross-platform desktop application also has integration with the website, where "Hackers" can share what they've learned, ask questions, and submit...
  
  , which is an educational version of ruby, can be installed on pendrive.
• JCreator
  JCreator
  JCreator is a Java IDE created by Xinox Software. Its interface is similar to that of Microsoft's Visual Studio. Because it is programmed entirely in C++, , Xinox Software has asserted that JCreator is faster than competing Java-based Java IDEs.JCreator has three editions:* Lite Edition :...
  
   Not entirely portable, because it leaves some settings on the host computer.
• SharpDevelop
  SharpDevelop
  SharpDevelop is a free and open source integrated development environment for the Microsoft .NET, Mono, Gtk# and Glade# platforms, and supports development in C#, Visual Basic .NET, Boo, F#, IronPython and IronRuby programming languages.It was designed as a free and lightweight alternative to...
  
   Portable

3D Modeling And Rendering

• Anim8or
  Anim8or
  Anim8or is a freeware OpenGL based 3D modeling and animation program by R. Steven Glanville, a software engineer at NVidia. Currently at version 0.97, it is a compact program with several tools which would normally be expected in high-end, paid software...
  
   - Free 3D modeling and animating software.
• Blender
  Blender (software)
  Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications or video games. The current release version is 2.60, and was released on October 19, 2011...
  
  :
  • BlenderPortable
  • Blender Pocket
  • XBlender
• K-3D
  K-3D
  K-3D is a free 3D modelling and animation software. Despite its name it is not a KDE application. It features a plug-in-oriented procedural engine for all of its content...
  
  

Animation

• Anim8or - See Top
• Blender - See Top
• Pivot Stickfigure Animator
  Pivot Stickfigure Animator
  Pivot Stickfigure Animator is a freeware application, for Windows, that allows users to create stick-figure animations, and save them in the animated GIF format used on web pages and, which can also be converted into videos using other software, such as Windows Movie Maker.Pivot provides a...
  
  
• K-3D - See Top

Graphic Editors

• ArtRage
  ArtRage
  ArtRage is a bitmap graphics editor for digital painting created by Ambient Design Ltd.ArtRage, currently in version 3, is a painting package designed to be used with a Tablet PC, but it can be used with a regular mouse as well...
  
  
• Artweaver
  Artweaver
  Artweaver is a freeware raster graphics editor for Windows developed by Boris Eyrich, mainly oriented to professional and amateur artists who are familiar with commercial programs like Adobe Photoshop and especially Corel Painter...
  
  
• Dia
• EVE
• Fotografix
  Fotografix
  Fotografix is a freeware graphics editing program for Microsoft Windows. It has been noted for being portable and light on system resources while still providing features found in larger software.-Features:...
  
  
• GIMP
  GIMP
  GIMP is a free software raster graphics editor. It is primarily employed as an image retouching and editing tool and is freely available in versions tailored for most popular operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and Linux.In addition to detailed image retouching and...
  
  :
  • GIMP Portable VS 2008 is the Gimp portable version of Gimp on Microsoft Windows
    Microsoft Windows
    Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
    
     platforms (Windows XP,Vista,NT Server 2003,NT Server 2008)
  • Portable Gimp - for Mac OS X
    Mac OS X
    Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
    
    
  • X-Gimp
  • X-GimpShop
• Inkscape
  Inkscape
  Inkscape is a free software vector graphics editor, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Its goal is to implement full support for the Scalable Vector Graphics 1.1 standard....
  
  :
  • X-Inkscape
  • Portable Inkscape - for Mac OS X
    Mac OS X
    Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
    
    
• IrfanView
  IrfanView
  IrfanView is a freeware/shareware image viewer for Microsoft Windows that can view, edit, and convert image files and play video/audio files. It is noted for its small size, speed, ease of use, and ability to handle a wide variety of graphic file formats, and has some image creation and painting...
  
  
• Pixia
  Pixia
  Pixia is a freeware bitmap graphics editor program for Windows, created by Isao Maruoka. It was originally designed for the anime/manga community but has also been used in other branches of art....
  
  
• Tux Paint
  Tux Paint
  Tux Paint is a free and open source bitmap graphics editor geared towards young children. The project was started in 2002 by Bill Kendrick who continues to maintain and improve it, with help from numerous volunteers...
  
  
• MS Paint

Icon Editors

• @icon sushi
  @icon sushi
  @icon sushi is a conversion and creation computer icon freeware software tool for Microsoft Windows with support for Windows Vista. It has the ability to import icons from ICO, BMP, PNG, PSD, EXE, DLL and ICL formats and can export as ICO, BMP, PNG and ICL...
  
  
• IcoFX
  IcoFX
  IcoFX is an icon creation software for Microsoft Windows. Previously a freeware, it allows editing multiple formats of icons with support for transparency. Icons can also be converted from one format to another, for instance from a Macintosh icon to a Windows icon. It's also possible to import any...
  
  
• GIMP - See Top - Supports reading and writing Windows ICO files.
• IrfraView - See Top - Supports converting graphic file formats into Windows
  Microsoft Windows
  Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
  
   ICO files.

Viewers

• FastStone Image Viewer
  FastStone Image Viewer
  FastStone Image Viewer is an image viewer and organizer for Microsoft Windows, provided free of charge for personal and educational use, .- Features :Highlights:* Relatively fast HQ image/thumbnail viewing, using Lanczos resampling algorithm...
  
  : supports screen capture, multiple pix into a single PDF
• Irfanview
  IrfanView
  IrfanView is a freeware/shareware image viewer for Microsoft Windows that can view, edit, and convert image files and play video/audio files. It is noted for its small size, speed, ease of use, and ability to handle a wide variety of graphic file formats, and has some image creation and painting...
  
  
• XnView
  XnView
  XnView is a cross-platform image viewer used for viewing, converting, organising and editing graphical & video files. It is free of charge for private, educational and non-profit organisations...
  
  

Office and Publishing

• Abiword
  AbiWord
  AbiWord is a free and open source software word processor. It was originally started by SourceGear Corporation as the first part of a proposed AbiSuite. Development stopped when SourceGear changed their focus to Internet appliances. AbiWord was adopted by some open source developers and AbiWord...
  
  
• AllMyNotes Organizer
  AllMyNotes Organizer
  AllMyNotes Organizer is an outliner application for Windows, and it allows you to store all documents and notes in single storage file. Documents are organized in a hierarchical tree representation for quick browsing by topic...
  
  
• Atlantis Word Processor
  Atlantis Word Processor
  Atlantis Word Processor is a stand-alone low-end word processor for Microsoft Windows developed by Rising Sun Solutions, Inc. It was previously known as "Atlantis Ocean Mind"....
  
  
• Jarte
  Jarte
  Jarte is a word processor for users of Microsoft Windows, based around the WordPad engine. In terms of market appeal, Jarte sits between the feature laden Microsoft Word and other more basic word processors such as Notepad. The standard version of Jarte is offered free of charge, while an enhanced...
  
  
• LibreOffice
  LibreOffice
  LibreOffice is a free and open source office suite developed by The Document Foundation as a fork of OpenOffice.org. It is largely compatible with other major office suites, including Microsoft Office, and available on a variety of platforms...
  
  
• OpenOffice.org
  OpenOffice.org
  OpenOffice.org, commonly known as OOo or OpenOffice, is an open-source application suite whose main components are for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases. OpenOffice is available for a number of different computer operating systems, is distributed as free software...
  
  
• Qjot
• RagTime
  RagTime (computer program)
  RagTime is a computer program primarily used for desktop publishing. The software combines spreadsheet features with word processing and embedded multimedia....
  
  
• Scribus
  Scribus
  Scribus is a desktop publishing application, released under the GNU General Public License as free software. It is based on the free Qt toolkit, therefore native versions are available for Linux, Unix-like operating systems, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and OS/2...
  
  
• StarOffice
  StarOffice
  StarOffice, known briefly as Oracle Open Office before its discontinuation in 2010, is a proprietary office suite. It was originally developed by StarDivision which was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1999...
  
  

Editors

• AkelPad
  AkelPad
  AkelPad is a small, expandable text editor written for the Windows family of operating systems. It can also be run under Wine, an application which allows users to run Windows applications on Unix-like systems such as Linux...
  
   - for portability, select Save Settings to INI File from Registry Tab in Settings dialog
• EmEditor Professional
  EmEditor
  EmEditor is a lightweight extensible commercial text editor for Microsoft Windows. It was developed by Yutaka Emura of Emurasoft, Inc. EmEditor includes full Unicode support, 32-bit and 64-bit builds, syntax highlighting, find and replace with regular expressions, vertical selection editing,...
  
   - for portability, select Import and Export on Tools menu
• Geany
  Geany
  Geany is a lightweight cross-platform GTK+ text editor based on Scintilla and including basic Integrated Development Environment features. It is designed to have short load times, with limited dependency on separate packages or external libraries. It is available for a wide range of operating...
  
  
• Metapad
  Metapad
  Metapad is an open source text editor for Microsoft Windows 9x/NT/XP, developed by Alexander Davidson since 1999. The aim of Metapad is to provide a near drop-in replacement of Notepad in Windows. Metapad was distributed as freeware for the first ten years of its existence...
  
   - for portability in version 3.6 onwards, at first run use the /m switch or create a blank text file called metapad.ini in the same directory as the executable.
• Notepad++
  Notepad++
  Notepad++ is a text editor and source code editor for Windows. One advantage of Notepad++ over the built-in Windows text editor, Notepad, is tabbed editing, which allows working with multiple open files.Notepad++ is distributed as free software...
  
  
• Notepad2
  Notepad2
  Notepad2 is an open-source text editor for Microsoft Windows, released under a BSD software license. It is written by Florian Balmer using the Scintilla editor component, and it was first publicly released in April 2004...
  
  
• NoteTab Light
  NoteTab
  NoteTab is a freeware/commercial text editor for Windows. It was developed by Eric Fookes of Fookes Software, Switzerland. The program's name refers to the fact that it was one of the earliest text-editors capable of editing several open documents on different tabs...
  
  
• Programmer's Notepad
  Programmer's Notepad
  Programmer's Notepad is an open-source text editor targeted at users who work with source code. It was released in 1998 by Echo Software . PN1's successor, Programmer's Notepad 2 , was released in 2002 and is now based on Scintilla...
  
  
• PSPad
  PSPad
  PSPad editor is a freeware text editor and source editor intended for use by programmers. First released in 2001, this software is produced by the single Czech developer Jan Fiala for the Windows platform....
  
   - for portable use choose CAB archive
• Q10
  Q10 (text editor)
  Q10 is a freeware text editor created by Baara Estudio. It is very basic, but has a few features that make it attractive to writers.- Features :* Full screen* Live text statistics easily visible* Customizable look* Alarm with word count for time...
  
  
• SciTE
  SciTE
  SciTE or SCIntilla based Text Editor is a cross-platform text editor written by Neil Hodgson using the Scintilla editing component. It is licensed under a minimal version of the Historical Permission Notice and Disclaimer...
  
   - for portability, set SciTE_HOME environment variable
• TED Notepad
  TED Notepad
  TED Notepad is a freeware portable text editor for Microsoft Windows. The software has been developed by Juraj Šimlovič since 2001, originally as a school project. It has a similar cosmetic look to Notepad, but provides variety of features for advanced plain-text editing...
  
   - for portability; create tednpad.ini file
• Textpad
  TextPad
  TextPad is a text editor for the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems.First released in 1992, this software is currently in its fifth major version...
  
  
• UltraEdit
  UltraEdit
  UltraEdit is a commercial text editor for Microsoft Windows, Linux and created in 1994 by Ian D. Mead. The editor contains tools for programmers, including macros, configurable syntax highlighting, code folding, file type conversions, project management, regular expressions for search-and-replace,...
  
   (UE3)
• VEDIT
  VEDIT
  Vedit is a commercial text editor for Microsoft Windows and MS-DOS from Greenview Data, Inc.Vedit was one of the pioneers in visual editing. Today, it is a powerful and feature-rich general-purpose text editor....
  
   - for portability, check "Install onto removable USB drive" checkbox on the first setup dialog
• Vim
  Vim (text editor)
  Vim is a text editor written by Bram Moolenaar and first released publicly in 1991. Based on the vi editor common to Unix-like systems, Vim is designed for use both from a command line interface and as a standalone application in a graphical user interface...
  
  

Personal Notes

• Personal Knowbase
  Personal Knowbase
  Personal Knowbase is a freeform notes database application for MS Windows. Personal Knowbase was first released in 1998 on the CompuServe Information Service and is an example of a personal knowledge base....
  
   - note organizer. For portability, select the removable drive letter as "Destination" during installation.

Educational

• Celestia
  Celestia
  Celestia is a 3D astronomy program created by Chris Laurel. The program is based on the Hipparcos Catalogue and allows users to travel through an extensive universe, modeled after reality, at any speed, in any direction and at any time in history...
  
  
• GCompris
  GCompris
  GCompris is a suite of free educational software for children aged 2 to 10., and is currently part of the GNU project.It is available for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X and other systems...
  
  
• Maxima
• Stellarium

Games

• AssaultCube
  AssaultCube
  AssaultCube is a free multiplayer first-person shooter game, based on the CUBE engine. It takes place in realistic environments, with fast, arcade gameplay...
  
  
• Cave Story
• Frets on Fire
  Frets on Fire
  Frets on Fire is a free, open-source Finnish music video game created by Unreal Voodoo. Players use the keyboard to play along with markers which appear on screen, with the aim to score points, achieve a high point multiplier, and complete a song...
  
  
• PokerTH
  PokerTH
  PokerTH is an open source Texas hold 'em simulator for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux. The game is faithful to the Texas Hold 'em rules and betting system. PokerTH allows for up to ten human players, with computer-controlled players filling in if there are not enough humans...
  
  
• Secret Maryo Chronicles
  Secret Maryo Chronicles
  Secret Maryo Chronicles is a free, open source two-dimensional platform game. It was developed and is maintained by the Secret Maryo Chronicles development team, led by Florian Richter ....
  
  
• Tile World
• Warzone 2100
  Warzone 2100
  Warzone 2100 is an open source real-time strategy and real-time tactics hybrid computer game, originally developed by Pumpkin Studios and published by Eidos Interactive...
  
  
• Minecraft
  Minecraft
  Minecraft is a sandbox-building independent video game written in Java originally by Swedish creator Markus "Notch" Persson and now by his company, Mojang, formed from the proceeds of the game. It was released as an alpha on May 17, 2009, with a beta version on December 20, 2010...
  
  

Emulators

• Atari800 - Atari 5200
  Atari 5200
  The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, commonly known as the Atari 5200, is a video game console that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. as a higher end complementary console for the popular Atari 2600...
  
   emulator
• DOSBox
  DOSBox
  DOSBox is emulator software that emulates an IBM PC compatible computer running MS-DOS. It is intended especially for use with old PC games. DOSBox is free software....
  
   - MS-DOS
  MS-DOS
  MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
  
   emulator
• FCE Ultra
  FCE Ultra
  FCEUX is an open source Nintendo Entertainment System and Family Computer Disk System emulator. It is a merger of various forks of FCE Ultra.-Multiplayer support:...
  
   - Nintendo Entertainment System
  Nintendo Entertainment System
  The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
  
   emulator
• Jnes
  Jnes
  Jnes is a NES emulator for Microsoft Windows. It is coded by Jabo, who is known for his work on Project64, a Nintendo 64 emulator. Using DirectX for hardware acceleration, Jnes also features online play with Kaillera, and the ability to use codes for cheat devices like the Game Genie and Pro Action...
  
   - Nintendo Entertainment System emulator
• Kawaks - Capcom's
  Capcom
  is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
  
   CPS-1
  CPS-1
  The or CPS-1 is an arcade system board developed by Capcom that ran game software stored on removable ROM cartridges. More than two dozen arcade titles were released for CPS-1, before Capcom shifted game development over to its successor, the CPS-2....
  
   & CPS-2
  CPS-2
  The or CPS-2 is an arcade system board that Capcom first used in 1993 for Super Street Fighter II. It was successor to their previous CP System and Capcom Power System Changer arcade hardware and was succeeded by the CP System III hardware in .-History:...
  
   and SNK's
  SNK
  SNK is a former name of SNK Playmore, a Japanese video game company . This may also refer to:* SNK European Democrats* SNK Union of Independents* Southeast Airlines ICAO code...
  
   NeoGeo Arcade emulator
• MAME
  MAME
  MAME is an emulator application designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. The intention is to preserve gaming history by preventing vintage games from being lost or forgotten...
  
   - Multiple Arcade
  Arcade game
  An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
  
   Machine emulator:
  • MAMEUI32
• VisualBoyAdvance
  VisualBoyAdvance
  VisualBoyAdvance is a free emulator of the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance handheld game consoles....
  
   - Game Boy
  Game Boy
  The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
  
  , Game Boy Color
  Game Boy Color
  The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
  
  , & Game Boy Advance
  Game Boy Advance
  The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
  
   emulator
• ZSNES
  ZSNES
  ZSNES is a free software SNES emulator written mostly in x86 assembly with official ports for Linux, MS-DOS, Mac OS X, Windows and an unofficial port for Xbox.-Background:...
  
   - Super Nintendo emulator

Web browser

Web browser

A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...

s

• Avant
  Avant Browser
  Avant Browser is a freeware web browser from a Chinese programmer named Anderson Che, which unites the Trident layout engine built into Windows with an interface intended to be more feature-rich, flexible and ergonomic than Microsoft's Internet Explorer . It runs on Windows 2000 and above,...
  
  
• Chromium
  Chromium (web browser)
  Chromium is the open source web browser project from which Google Chrome draws its source code. The project's hourly Chromium snapshots appear essentially similar to the latest builds of Google Chrome aside from the omission of certain Google additions, most noticeable among them: Google's...
  
  
• Firefox Portable
• Google Chrome
  Google Chrome
  Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google that uses the WebKit layout engine. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and the public stable release was on December 11, 2008. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or...
  
   Portable
• Maxthon Browser
• Opera
  Opera (web browser)
  Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...
  
  :
  • OperaCacheView
• Operator YAPO
• Pocket K-Meleon
  K-Meleon
  K-Meleon is a web browser for the Microsoft Windows platform. Based on the same Gecko layout engine as Mozilla Firefox, K-Meleon uses native Windows application programming interface to create the user interface, instead of using Mozilla's cross-platform XML User Interface Language layer, and as...
  
  
• SeaMonkey
  SeaMonkey
  SeaMonkey is a free and open source cross-platform Internet suite. It is the continuation of the former Mozilla Application Suite, based on the same source code...
  
  
• SRWare Iron
  SRWare Iron
  SRWare Iron, or simply Iron, is a free and open-source web browser implementation of the Chromium source code which primarily aims to eliminate usage tracking and other privacy-compromising functionality that the Google Chrome browser includes...
  
   Portable
• Sleipnir
  Sleipnir (web browser)
  Sleipnir is a tabbed web browser developed by Fenrir Inc. The browser is known for its high level of user customization and is one of the few browsers to still support Windows 98...
  
  
• XeroBank Browser
• Internet Explorer
  Internet Explorer
  Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
  
  

Email clients

• Mail - for Mac OS X
  Mac OS X
  Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
  
  
• Mozilla Thunderbird Portable
  Mozilla Thunderbird
  Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser...
  
  
• Modest
  Modest (e-mail client)
  Modest is a free, open source, email client developed by Nokia's maemo project. Small and lightweight, it is intended for use on hardware with “modest” resources, in particular Nokia's N800 and N810 Internet Tablets running Internet Tablet OS 2008, as well as the N900 mobile phone running Maemo...
  
  
• Pegasus Mail
  Pegasus Mail
  Pegasus Mail is a donationware , proprietary, email client that is developed and maintained by David Harris and his team. It was originally released in 1990 for internal and external mail on Netware networks with MS-DOS clients, and was subsequently ported to Microsoft Windows...
  
  
• Pine
  Pine (e-mail client)
  Pine is a freeware, text-based email client developed at the University of Washington. The first version of this client was written in 1989. Source code was available for only the Unix version under a license written by the University of Washington...
  
  
• Opera
  Opera (web browser)
  Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...
  
   (has integrated Email client)
• SeaMonkey
  SeaMonkey
  SeaMonkey is a free and open source cross-platform Internet suite. It is the continuation of the former Mozilla Application Suite, based on the same source code...
  
  
• sylpheed
  Sylpheed
  Sylpheed is an open source e-mail client and news client licensed under the GPL. It provides easy configuration and an abundance of features. It stores mail in the MH Message Handling System. Sylpheed runs on Unix-like systems such as Linux or BSD as well as on Mac OS X and Windows. It uses...
  
   get the zip version
• The Bat! Voyager
  The Bat!
  The Bat! is a shareware e-mail client for the Microsoft Windows operating system, developed by RITLabs, a company based in Chişinău, Moldova.-History:...
  
  

Instant messaging

Instant messaging

Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...

• Adium
  Adium
  Adium is a free and open source instant messaging client for Mac OS X that supports multiple IM networks, including Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, AIM, ICQ, and XMPP. It supports many protocols through the libraries libezv , MGTwitterEngine , and libpurple...
  
   - for Mac OS X
  Mac OS X
  Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
  
  
• aMSN
  AMSN
  aMSN is a free Windows Live Messenger clone. aMSN attempts to emulate the look and feel of Windows Live Messenger, and supports many of its features...
  
  
• Brosix
  Brosix
  Brosix is a secure instant messenger that is designed to help users connect to each other. It uses 256-bits AES encryption in order to encrypt messages, thus ensuring their security...
  
  
• Google Talk
  Google Talk
  Google Talk is a freeware voice over Internet protocol client application offered by Google Inc. The first beta version of the program was released on August 24, 2005...
  
  
• Yahoo! Messenger
  Yahoo! Messenger
  Yahoo! Messenger is an advertisement-supported instant messaging client and associated protocol provided by Yahoo!...
  
  
• Miranda IM
  Miranda IM
  Miranda IM is an open source multiprotocol instant messaging application, designed for Microsoft Windows. Miranda is free software distributed under GNU General Public License.- Architecture :...
  
  
• Pidgin Portable (formerly Gaim Portable)
• Psi Portable
• TerraIM
  TerraIM
  TerraIM is a free, lightweight, cross-platform AOL Instant Messenger client, supporting most standard features of AIM's OSCAR protocol. One notable exception is the lack of Direct Connect support, which TerraIM compensates for with its file sending and download manager. Some features include...
  
  
• Trillian Anywhere
  Trillian (instant messaging client)
  Trillian is a proprietary multiprotocol instant messaging application for Windows, Mac OS X, Android, iOS, BlackBerry OS, and the Web, created by Cerulean Studios...
  
  
• Portable iChat
  IChat
  iChat is an instant messaging software application developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its Mac OS X operating system. It has audio, video and screen-sharing capabilities as well as text messaging...
  
   - for Mac OS X
  Mac OS X
  Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
  
  
• Digsby
  Digsby
  Digsby is a freeware proprietary multiprotocol instant messaging application developed by dotSyntax, LLC. Digsby is written in Python and uses wxPython as its widget toolkit and WebKit for rendering...
  
  
• Skype
  Skype
  Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
  
  
• Monal
  Monal (software)
  Monal is a popular free instant messaging client for iOS that supports Google Talk, AIM and XMPP. It utilizes the webkit rendering engine and is compatible with Adium themes. Much like Adium, it uses Matthew Bice's stockholm theme as its default.-History:...
  
  

FTP clients

• WinSCP
  WinSCP
  WinSCP is a free and open source SFTP, SCP, and FTP client for Microsoft Windows. Its main function is secure file transfer between a local and a remote computer. Beyond this, WinSCP offers basic file manager and file synchronization functionality...
  
  
• FileZilla
  FileZilla
  FileZilla is free, open source, cross-platform FTP software, consisting of FileZilla Client and FileZilla Server. Binaries are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. It supports FTP, SFTP, and FTPS . As of 18 April 2011, FileZilla Client was the 7th most popular download of all time from...
  
  
• Portable Cyberduck
  Cyberduck
  Cyberduck is an open source FTP and SFTP, WebDAV, Cloud Files, Google Docs, and Amazon S3 client for Mac OS X and Windows licensed under the GPL. Cyberduck is written in the Java language and using the Cocoa user interface framework. It supports FTP/TLS , using AUTH TLS as well as directory...
  
  
• SmartFTP
  SmartFTP
  SmartFTP is an FTP/FTPS/SFTP client for Windows, developed by SmartSoft Ltd. Features include SSL/TLS, IPv6 and FXP support, a backup tool, a transfer queue, proxy and firewall support, multiple connections, chmod features, Drag-and-drop and localization for over 20 languages, including English,...
  
  
• FlashFXP
  FlashFXP
  FlashFXP is a proprietary, well-established, and mature FTP client under active development sporting a simple Windows-based GUI. FlashFXP supports both client-to-server and server-to-server transfers...
  
  

Download manager

Download manager

A download manager is a computer program dedicated to the task of downloading possibly unrelated stand-alone files from the Internet for storage...

s

• Wget
  Wget
  GNU Wget is a computer program that retrieves content from web servers, and is part of the GNU Project. Its name is derived from World Wide Web and get...
  
  
• HTTrack
  HTTrack
  HTTrack is a free and open source Web crawler and offline browser, developed by Xavier Roche and licensed under the GNU General Public License....
  
  

• WxDownload Fast
  WxDownload Fast
  wxDownload Fast is a free/open source download manager. It was created to be multi-platform, so at the moment it builds on Windows , Linux, BSD, and Mac OS X....
  
  
• Orbit Downloader
  Orbit Downloader
  -External links:* * at Download.com* at Softonic.com...
  
  
• Free Download Manager
  Free Download Manager
  Free Download Manager is a free open source graphical download manager for the Microsoft Windows operating system.FDM was previously proprietary software, but with the release of version 2.5 it has been open source. Starting with version 3.0.850 , source code is no longer provided as a packaged...
  
   - Note: installation required to create portable version.
• Opera
  Opera (web browser)
  Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...
  
   (Integrated Download Manager)

P2P

Peer-to-peer

Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...

 file sharing

File sharing

File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia , documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of ways...

• BitComet
  BitComet
  BitComet is a cross-protocol BitTorrent, HTTP and FTP client written in C++ for Microsoft Windows and available in 52 different languages. Its first public release was version 0.28...
  
   - Note: needs msxml.
• BitTornado
  BitTornado
  BitTornado is a free BitTorrent client for transfer of computer files over networks, including the Internet. It is developed by John Hoffman, who also created its predecessor, Shad0w's Experimental Client...
  
   - Note: needs msxml.
• Emule
  EMule
  eMule is a free peer-to-peer file sharing application for Microsoft Windows. Started in May 2002 as an alternative to eDonkey2000, eMule now connects to both the eDonkey network and the Kad network...
  
  
• Opera
  Opera (web browser)
  Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...
  
   (integrated torrent client)
• μTorrent - Latest version runs independently
• Halite
  Halite
  Halite , commonly known as rock salt, is the mineral form of sodium chloride . Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow or gray depending on the amount and type of impurities...
  
  
• FrostWire
  FrostWire
  FrostWire is a free, open source BitTorrent client first released in September 2004, as a fork of LimeWire. It was initially very similar to LimeWire in appearance and functionality, but over time developers added more features, including BitTorrent support. In version 5, Gnutella support was...
  
  
• Limewire
  LimeWire
  LimeWire is a free peer-to-peer file sharing client program that runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and other operating systems supported by the Java software platform. LimeWire uses the gnutella network as well as the BitTorrent protocol. A free software version and a purchasable "enhanced"...
  
   Portable
• Vuze
  Vuze
  Vuze is a BitTorrent client used to transfer files via the BitTorrent protocol. Vuze is written in Java, and uses the Azureus Engine. In addition to downloading data linked to by .torrent files, Azureus allows users to view, publish and share original DVD and HD quality video content...
  
   Portable

IRC

• ChatZilla
  ChatZilla
  ChatZilla is an IRC client for Mozilla-based browsers such as Firefox, introduced in 2000. It is cross-platform open source software which has been noted for its consistent appearance across platforms, CSS appearance customization and scripting....
  
   Note: Requires a Mozilla based browser, e.g. SeaMonkey
  SeaMonkey
  SeaMonkey is a free and open source cross-platform Internet suite. It is the continuation of the former Mozilla Application Suite, based on the same source code...
  
  , or Firefox.
• Miranda IM
  Miranda IM
  Miranda IM is an open source multiprotocol instant messaging application, designed for Microsoft Windows. Miranda is free software distributed under GNU General Public License.- Architecture :...
  
  
• mIRC
  MIRC
  mIRC is an Internet Relay Chat client for Microsoft Windows, created in 1995 and developed by Khaled Mardam-Bey. Although it is a fully functional chat utility, its integrated scripting language makes it extensible and versatile....
  
   Note: There is a U3 version of mIRC that can be installed on U3 drives. The original application is portable, leaving behind only the license key in the registry. (This may not be true with the newer versions that are vista-compatible, as their default user data area was changed to the user's application data folder.) Since v3.1, it can be started from a command line using the -portable switch to use settings, DLLs, and license keys that are stored in the same folder as mirc.exe.
• Nettalk
  Nettalk (IRC client)
  Nettalk is a free and opensource IRC Client for Windows. Because Nettalk's user interface focuses, in contrast to many other Windows IRC clients, for less experienced IRC users, it is quick to learn. It is a full-fledged IRC client with UTF-8 and DCC file transfer support...
  
  
• Pidgin
  Pidgin (software)
  Pidgin is an open-source multi-platform instant messaging client, based on a library named libpurple. Libpurple has support for many commonly used instant messaging protocols, allowing the user to log into various services from one application.The number of Pidgin users was estimated to be over 3...
  
   (formerly Gaim)
• Opera
  Opera (web browser)
  Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...
  
   (Integrated Irc client)
• XChat
• Portable X-Chat Aqua - for Mac OS X
  Mac OS X
  Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
  
  
• Digsby
  Digsby
  Digsby is a freeware proprietary multiprotocol instant messaging application developed by dotSyntax, LLC. Digsby is written in Python and uses wxPython as its widget toolkit and WebKit for rendering...
  
  

RSS

RSS (file format)

RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format...

, Atom

Atom (standard)

The name Atom applies to a pair of related standards. The Atom Syndication Format is an XML language used for web feeds, while the Atom Publishing Protocol is a simple HTTP-based protocol for creating and updating web resources.Web feeds allow software programs to check for updates published on a...

 readers

• RSSOwl
  RSSOwl
  RSSOwl is a news aggregator for RSS and Atom News feeds. It is written in Java, and is built on the Eclipse Rich Client Platform which uses SWT as a widget toolkit to allow it to fit in with the look and feel of different operating systems while remaining cross-platform...
  
   Note: needs Java runtime environment.
• Opera
  Opera (web browser)
  Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...
  
   (Integrated RSS/Atom client)
• SE-RssTools
  SE-RssTools
  SE-RssTools is a free portable Feed reader and RSS editor for Windows with RSS, RDF, Atom and iTunes Podcast feed formats support.SE-RssTools lets to read, search and manage RSS feeds or create RSS feeds without knowledge of XML format and structure....
  
   Note: needs Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.

Telnet

TELNET

Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility using a virtual terminal connection...

, SSH

Secure Shell

Secure Shell is a network protocol for secure data communication, remote shell services or command execution and other secure network services between two networked computers that it connects via a secure channel over an insecure network: a server and a client...

 clients

• portaPuTTY
• WinSCP Portable Edition - SFTP
  SSH file transfer protocol
  In computing, the SSH File Transfer Protocol is a network protocol that provides file access, file transfer, and file management functionality over any reliable data stream...
  
  /SCP
  Secure copy
  Secure Copy or SCP is a means of securely transferring computer files between a local and a remote host or between two remote hosts. It is based on the Secure Shell protocol....
  
  /FTP client, remote file manager, GUI—see WinSCP
  WinSCP
  WinSCP is a free and open source SFTP, SCP, and FTP client for Microsoft Windows. Its main function is secure file transfer between a local and a remote computer. Beyond this, WinSCP offers basic file manager and file synchronization functionality...
  
  .

Local wiki

Wiki

A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...

s

• EverNote
  EverNote
  Evernote is a suite of software and services designed for notetaking and archiving. A "note" can be a piece of formatted text, a full webpage or webpage excerpt, a photograph, a voice memo, or a handwritten "ink" note. Notes can also have file attachments...
  
   (freeware & commercial versions)
• Wikidpad
  WikidPad
  WikidPad is an open source, Python-based wiki-like outliner for storing thoughts, ideas, to-do lists, contacts, and other notes with wiki-like linking between pages....
  
  
• TiddlyWiki
  TiddlyWiki
  TiddlyWiki is an open source single page application wiki. A single HTML file contains CSS, JavaScript, and the content. The content is divided into a series of sections, or Tiddlers. A user is encouraged to read a TiddlyWiki by following links rather than sequentially scrolling down the...
  
   (Use a web browser on a local file. No network required.)
• DokuWiki
  DokuWiki
  DokuWiki is a wiki application aimed at small companies’ documentation needs. DokuWiki is licensed under GPL 2 and written in the programming language PHP. It works on plain text files and thus needs no database. Its syntax is similar to the one used by MediaWiki.-History:DokuWiki was created by...
  
   (freeware version available complete with Apache)

Miscellaneous

• Ahnenblatt
  Ahnenblatt
  Ahnenblatt is a genealogy software to create family trees, pedigree charts and ahnentafels.Genealogic data is stored in a proprietary file format, that can be exported to other formats , e.g...
  
   multilingual Genealogy software
  Genealogy software
  Genealogy software is computer software used to record, organize, and publish genealogical data. At a minimum, genealogy software collects the date and place of an individual's birth, marriage, and death, and stores the relationships of individuals to their parents, spouses, and children...
  
  
• Moka5 LivePC Engine (Portable VMware
  VMware
  VMware, Inc. is a company providing virtualization software founded in 1998 and based in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2004, and operates as a separate software subsidiary ....
  
  ). Note: Dynamically loads and unloads network drivers and requires administrator rights.
• Mojopac
  MojoPac
  MojoPac is an application virtualization product from RingCube Technologies. MojoPac turns any USB 2.0 storage device, into a portable computing environment. The term "MojoPac" is used by the company to refer to the software application, the virtualized environment running inside this software, and...
  
   portable chopped down copy of windows. Requires administrator rights.
• WPI
  Windows Post-Install Wizard
  Windows Post-Install Wizard is a software application for choosing and installing multiple Windows programs. It is commonly used just after a Windows installation on a computer, to choose and add the required applications that will be used, such as word processor, browser, CD-burning, anti-virus,...
  
   Scripted multiple applications installer.

File converters

• Audiograbber
  Audiograbber
  Audiograbber is a proprietary freeware CD audio extractor/converter program for Microsoft Windows. It was one of the first programs in the genre to become popular. The data extraction algorithm was designed by Jackie Franck and was included in the Xing Technology software package Xing Audio...
  
  
• BonkEnc
  BonkEnc
  fre:ac is a CD audio extractor and audio converter for Microsoft Windows. Distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, fre:ac is free software. The developers invite donations but they are optional.- Features :...
  
  
• CDex
  CDex
  CDex is a CD ripper for Microsoft Windows. It convert tracks on a CD to standard computer sound files, such as WAV, MP3, or Ogg Vorbis. Released under the GNU General Public License, CDex is free software. , it is the 14th most popular download on SourceForge.net, with over 41 million downloads. It...
  
  
• MediaCoder
  MediaCoder
  MediaCoder is a transcoding program for Microsoft Windows. It has been developed by Stanley Huang since 2005.MediaCoder uses various open source audio and video codecs, among several proprietary codecs and tools to transcode different audio/video formats and has many extra features...
  
  
• TMPGEnc
  TMPGEnc
  TMPGEnc or TSUNAMI MPEG Encoder is a video transcoder software application primarily for encoding video files to VCD and SVCD-compliant MPEG video formats and was developed by Hiroyuki Hori and Pegasys Inc.. TMPGEnc can also refer to the family of software video encoders created after the success...
  
  
• Total video converter
  Total video converter
  Total Video Converter is a shareware video and audio converter utility from EffectMatrix. It is commonly used to convert most fashionable video formats for various video players as well as show photos slide and burn the converted video to DVD/SVCD/VCD. Started from version 2.21, Total Video...
  
  
• FormatFactory
  FormatFactory
  - External links :* and on CNet on Stern's web site in netzwelt in Computerra...
  
  
• XMedia Recode
  XMedia Recode
  XMedia Recode is a donationware video and audio transcoding program for Microsoft Windows developed by Sebastian Dörfler. It can import and export many types of files such as WMV, MP4, MP3, 3GP, Matroska and more. XMedia Recode can convert unprotected DVDs or DVD files to any supported output file...
  
  

CD/DVD burning

• DVDStyler
  DVDStyler
  DVD Styler is a Cross-platform DVD authoring tool with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux versions, using wxWidgets. It allows menu creation, buttons, and DVD previews. It is free software under the license GNU GPL.- See also :* DVD authoring* DVD Flick...
  
  
• DeepBurner Portable Edition
• InfraRecorder
  InfraRecorder
  InfraRecorder is an open source CD and DVD writing program for Microsoft Windows. First started by Christian Kindahl in the Google Summer of Code 2006, InfraRecorder uses the cdrtools software library to perform the actual burning....
  
  
• Portable ImgBurn
  ImgBurn
  ImgBurn is a freeware program that allows the recording of many types of CD/DVD images to recordable media . Starting with version 2.0.0.0, ImgBurn can also burn files and data directly to CD/DVD. It supports padding DVD-Video files so the layer break occurs on a proper cell boundary...
  
  

Editors

• Portable Audacity
  Audacity
  Audacity is a free software, cross-platform digital audio editor and recording application. It is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and BSD.Audacity was created by Dominic Mazzoni while he was a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University...
  
   - for Windows
  Microsoft Windows
  Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
  
   and Mac OS X
  Mac OS X
  Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
  
  
• Audiobook Cutter Free Edition
• mp3DirectCut
  Mp3DirectCut
  mp3DirectCut is a lossless editor for MP3 audio files, able to provide cuts and crops, copy and paste, gain and fades to audio files without having to decode or re-encode the audio. By modifying the global gain field of each frame of MPEG audio, the volume of that frame can be modified without...
  
  
• GoldWave
  GoldWave
  GoldWave is a popular commercial digital audio editing software product developed by GoldWave Inc, first released to the public in April 1993. It is used in dozens of schools and universities around the world and is mentioned in numerous research papers covering a wide variety of topics, including...
  
  
• VirtualDub
  VirtualDub
  VirtualDub is a video capture and video processing utility for Microsoft Windows written by Avery Lee.It is designed to process linear video streams, including filtering and recompression...
  
  

Players

• FLV player
• Media Player Classic
  Media Player Classic
  Media Player Classic is a compact media player for 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows. The application mimics the look and feel of the old, lightweight Windows Media Player 6.4 but integrates most options and features found in modern media players...
  
  
• foobar2000
  Foobar2000
  foobar2000 is a freeware audio player for Windows developed by Peter Pawlowski, a former freelance contractor for Nullsoft. It is known for its highly modular design and extensive SDK which allows third-party developers to do such things as completely replace the interface...
  
   - only supports xp and forward
• MPlayer
  MPlayer
  MPlayer is a free and open source media player. The program is available for all major operating systems, including Linux and other Unix-like systems, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Versions for OS/2, Syllable, AmigaOS and MorphOS are also available. The Windows version works, with some minor...
  
  
• SMPlayer
  SMPlayer
  SMPlayer is a multiplatform multimedia player front-end for MPlayer. Released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, SMPlayer is free software.-Windows:...
  
   - download the 7zip version which is portable
• Songbird
  Songbird (software)
  Songbird is a free and open source software audio player and web browser, with a stated mission "to incubate Songbird, the first Web player, to catalyze and champion a diverse, open Media Web."...
  
  
• K-Multimedia Player
  K-Multimedia Player
  K-Multimedia Player is a media player software for Microsoft Windows which can play a large number of formats including VCD, DVD, AVI, MKV, Ogg, OGM, 3GP, MPEG-1/2/4, WMV, RealMedia, FLV and QuickTime...
  
   - use zip version to make it portable
• The Core Pocket Media Player
  The Core Pocket Media Player
  The Core Pocket Media Player is a software media player which operates on portable devices and Windows-based PCs. It is discontinued, but still available from the official mirror site. Supported operating systems include Palm OS, Symbian OS, and Microsoft Windows, CE, and Mobile. It is also...
  
  
• VideoLAN
  VideoLAN
  VideoLAN is a project that develops software for playing video and other media formats across a local area network . It originally developed two programs for media streaming, VideoLAN Client and VideoLAN Server , but most of the features of VLS have been incorporated into VLC, with the result...
  
  
• Winamp
  Winamp
  Winamp is a media player for Windows-based PCs and Android devices, written by Nullsoft, now a subsidiary of AOL. It is proprietary freeware/shareware, multi-format, extensible with plug-ins and skins, and is noted for its graphical sound visualization, playlist, and media library features.Winamp...
  
  

HTTP servers

• EasyPHP
  EasyPHP
  EasyPHP is a software bundle for Windows enabling PHP and MySQL development on a developer's personal computer.Launched in 1999, EasyPHP was the first WAMP software bundle available. EasyPHP installs web server services onto the Windows computer and allows quick-and-easy development of PHP and...
  
  
• XAMPP
  XAMPP
  XAMPP is a free and open source cross-platform web server solution stack package, consisting mainly of the Apache HTTP Server, MySQL database, and interpreters for scripts written in the PHP and Perl programming languages.-Etymology:...
  
  
• Rails
  Ruby on Rails
  Ruby on Rails, often shortened to Rails or RoR, is an open source web application framework for the Ruby programming language.-History:...
  
  , Apache, and MySQL
  MySQL
  MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
  
  
• Server2Go
  Server2Go
  Server2Go is a freeware WAMP stack. It is a software package that bundles Windows versions of PHP, MySQL, Apache and Perl. Server2Go is designed to run on removable and write-protected media such as USB Sticks or CD-ROMs -- it can run standalone web applications from a CD-ROM.Server2Go is...
  
  
• WOS
  Web operating system
  In metacomputing, WebOS and Web operating system are terms that describe network services for Internet scale distributed computing, as in the WebOS Project at UC Berkeley, and the WOS Project...
  
  
• The Uniform Server
  Uniform Server
  The Uniform Server is a free open source WAMP package for Microsoft Windows, comprising a pre-configured setup of complementary open source web server tools, the Apache HTTP Server, the MySQL database engine, and scripting languages PHP and Perl...
  
  
• HTTP File Server
  HTTP File Server
  HTTP File Server, otherwise known as HFS, is a free web server specifically designed for publishing and sharing files.The complete feature set differs from other web servers; it lacks some common features, like CGI, but includes, for example, counting file downloads. It is even advised against...
  
   (HFS)
• MoWeS Portable
  MoWeS
  MoWeS is a software from CH Software and stands for the abbreviation Modular Webserver System. MoWeS allows the user to start a full-fledged webserver based on Apache, MySQL and PHP from a USB stick or any other writable medium without installation....
  
   makes also more than 69 web applications as MediaWiki
  MediaWiki
  MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
  
  , TYPO3
  TYPO3
  TYPO3 is a free and open source web content management framework. It is released under the GNU General Public License. It can run on several web servers, such as Apache or IIS, on top of many operating systems, among them Linux, Microsoft Windows, FreeBSD, Mac OS X and OS/2.-History:TYPO3 was...
  
  , WordPress
  WordPress
  WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and publishing platform powered by PHP and MySQL. It is often customized into a content management system . It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet's "top 1...
  
  , Drupal
  Drupal
  Drupal is a free and open-source content management system and content management framework written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. It is used as a back-end system for at least 1.5% of all websites worldwide ranging from personal blogs to corporate, political, and...
  
   portable

Miscellaneous

• Netcat
  Netcat
  Netcat is a computer networking service for reading from and writing network connections using TCP or UDP. Netcat is designed to be a dependable “back-end” device that can be used directly or easily driven by other programs and scripts...
  
  
• Proxomitron
  Proxomitron
  Proxomitron, the Universal Web Filter, is a filtering web proxy written by Scott R. Lemmon. This program was originally designed to run under Windows 95....
  
   - Filtering Web Proxy
• Xming
  Xming
  Xming is an implementation of the X Window System for Microsoft Windows operating systems, including Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows 7.-Features:...
  
  
• WinDump: Tcpdump
  Tcpdump
  tcpdump is a common packet analyzer that runs under the command line. It allows the user to intercept and display TCP/IP and other packets being transmitted or received over a network to which the computer is attached...
  
   for Windows
• Wireshark
  Wireshark
  Wireshark is a free and open-source packet analyzer. It is used for network troubleshooting, analysis, software and communications protocol development, and education...
  
  
• VNC: RealVNC
  RealVNC
  RealVNC is a company that provides remote access software. The software consists of a server and client application for the Virtual Network Computing protocol to control another computer's screen remotely.-History:...
  
   Viewer for Windows

Web Editors

• Portable Nvu
  Nvu
  Nvu is a WYSIWYG HTML editor, based on the Composer component of Mozilla Application Suite and Gecko 1.7. It is a common WYSIWYG editor for Linux, Microsoft Windows and Macintosh, intended to be an open source equivalent to proprietary software like Microsoft Expression Web and Adobe Dreamweaver...
  
   and KompoZer
  KompoZer
  KompoZer is an open source WYSIWYG HTML editor based on a rewritten version of the now-discontinued Nvu editor. KompoZer is maintained as a community-driven fork and is a project on Sourceforge....
  
   - for Mac OS X
  Mac OS X
  Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
  
   and Windows.
• OpenOffice.org Portable - Complete office suite, which includes HTML editor.
• SeaMonkey
  SeaMonkey
  SeaMonkey is a free and open source cross-platform Internet suite. It is the continuation of the former Mozilla Application Suite, based on the same source code...
  
  

Calendar management

• Portable Sunbird
  Mozilla Sunbird
  Mozilla Sunbird is a free and open source, cross-platform calendar application that was developed by the Mozilla Foundation, Sun Microsystems and many volunteers...
  
   - for Mac OS X
  Mac OS X
  Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
  
  , and Windows
• Portable iCal
  ICal
  iCal is a personal calendar application made by Apple Inc. that runs on the Mac OS X operating system. iCal was the first calendar application for Mac OS X to offer support for multiple calendars and the ability to publish/subscribe calendars to WebDAV server....
  
   - for Mac OS X
  Mac OS X
  Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
  
  

File management

• Directory Opus
  Directory Opus
  Directory Opus is a popular file manager program, originally written for the Amiga computer system in the early to mid 1990s...
  
   by selecting the USB/U3 export option
• X-file
  XPT (Extreme Power Tools)
  The XPT is a commercial Win32 Windows software toolset specifically designed for programmers and system administrators. The XPT comprises some 150 applications notable for their "bare metal" design, a "software tools" philosophy, and ten years with no significant bugs...
  
   X-file for Windows 98SE/2K or later
• Servant Salamander
  Servant Salamander
  Altap Salamander is a shareware orthodox file manager for Windows, originally inspired by Norton Commander...
  
   1.52
• Total Commander
  Total Commander
  Total Commander is an Orthodox File Manager software for Windows, Windows CE, and Windows Mobile. Some features include a built-in FTP client, file compare, archive file navigation, and a versatile multi-rename tool with regular expression support....
  
  
• XYplorer
  XYplorer
  XYplorer is a shareware file manager for Windows 98/NT/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7. XYplorer is a hybrid file manager that combines features found in navigational and orthodox file managers...
  
  
• FreeCommander
  FreeCommander
  FreeCommander is a freeware Orthodox File Manager for Windows . Some features include a built-in FTP client, archive file navigation, folder comparison and synchronization, and a multi-file renaming tool....
  
  

File Archivers and Extractors

• 7-Zip
  7-Zip
  7-Zip is an open source file archiver. 7-Zip operates with the 7z archive format, but can read and write several other archive formats. The program can be used from a command line interface, graphical user interface, or with Microsoft Windows shell integration. 7-Zip began in 1999 and is actively...
  
  
• Filzip
  Filzip
  Filzip is a freeware file archiver program for the Microsoft Windows platform.It was written by Philipp Engel. While free, the author does request donations to help the cost of development and reward him for his work...
  
  
• PeaZip
  PeaZip
  PeaZip is a file manager and file archiver for Microsoft Windows and GNU/Linux. It supports its native PEA archive format and other mainstream formats, with special focus on handling open formats...
  
  , for Linux and Windows
• iZarc2go
  IZArc
  IZArc is a proprietary file archiver for Microsoft Windows developed by Bulgarian programmer Ivan Zahariev. The program is freeware and closed source. In addition to the most commonly used archive formats, like zip, rar, gzip, tar.gz, bzip2, and 7z, IZArc handles a large number of less common formats...
  
  , Portable version of iZarc
• WinRAR
  WinRAR
  WinRAR is a shareware file archiver and data compression utility developed by Eugene Roshal, and first released in autumn of 1993. It is one of the few applications that is able to create RAR archives natively, because the encoding method is held to be proprietary.-Developer:The current developer...
  
  , Portable version for Windows, still requires having a license for a regular version of WinRAR. The version number for WinRAR Unplugged is 3.8.0.1, while the latest WinRAR for Windows version is 4.01

Anti-Spyware/Malware

• CWShredder
  CWShredder
  CWShredder is a program that runs on Microsoft Windows for removing the CoolWebSearch family of spyware. Originally created by Merijn Bellekom, it was bought by InterMute on October 19, 2004 until June 2005 when InterMute itself was acquired by Trend Micro....
  
  
• HijackThis
  HijackThis
  HijackThis is a freeware enumerating tool for Microsoft Windows originally created by Merijn Bellekom, and later sold to Trend Micro. The program is notable for targeting browser-hijacking methods, rather than relying on a database of known spyware. It scans a user's computer quickly, and displays...
  
   Powerful tool for listing all startup programs and other hidden system modifications.
• SUPERAntiSpyware
  Superantispyware
  SUPERAntiSpyware is a software application distributed as shareware which can detect and remove spyware, adware, trojan horses, rogue security software, computer worms, rootkits, parasites and other potentially harmful software applications...
  
  

Storage Management

Visual maps of free space and biggest files and folders on hard drive.

• SpaceMonger
  SpaceMonger
  -Version history:Version 1.4 is freeware, distributed online as a 103Kb Pkzip archive—the program itself is a Windows 9x compatible standalone .EXE which needs no installer. It shows a treemap of files and lets the user open and delete individual files...
  
  
• WinDirStat
  WinDirStat
  WinDirStat is a graphical disk usage analyzer for Microsoft Windows, notable for presenting a sub-tree view with disk use percentage alongside a usage-sorted list of file extensions that is interactively integrated with a colorful graphical display . Created as an open source project released under...
  
  
• Defraggler
  Defraggler
  Defraggler, developed by Piriform, is a free donationware defragmentation utility, which notably allows users to defragment individual files on their computer system. Defraggler runs on Microsoft Windows; it has support for all versions since Windows XP...
  
  

System Information

• CPU-Z
  CPU-Z
  CPU-Z is a freeware system profiler application for Microsoft Windows that detects the central processing unit, RAM, motherboard chipset, and other hardware features of a modern personal computer, and presents the information in one window.CPU-Z is more in-depth in almost all areas than the tools...
  
   - CPU and memory hardware details - clock and FSB speeds, SPD, OS version.
• CPU Speed Pro
  CPU Speed Pro
  CPU Speed Pro is a freeware system profiler application for Microsoft Windows that detects the type of central processing unit located on a motherboard and tests the speed of a motherboard's processor in four automated steps. The ability to accurately check a computer system's CPU speed is an...
  
  
• AIDA32
  AIDA32
  AIDA32 is a discontinued freeware system information, diagnostics, and auditing program written by Tamás Miklós that runs on Microsoft Windows operating systems, not dissimilar to System Information for Windows . It displays detailed information on the components of a computer. Information can be...
  
   - freeware system information, diagnostics, and auditing program

See also

• Portable Application
  Portable application
  A portable application , sometimes also called standalone, is a computer software program designed to run independently from an operating system...
  
  
• List of LiveDistros
• Live USB
  Live USB
  A live USB is a USB flash drive or a USB external hard disk drive containing a full operating system that can be booted. Live USBs are closely related to live CDs, but sometimes have the ability to persistently save settings and permanently install software packages back onto the USB device...
  
  
• Portable application creators
  Portable application creators
  Portable application creators allow the creation of portable applications . They usually use application virtualization.- Creators of independent portable applications :...
  
  
• VMware ThinApp
  VMware ThinApp
  VMware ThinApp is an application virtualization and portable application creator suite by VMware that can package conventional applications so that they become portable applications...
  
  , a virtualization suite (with the ability to make portable programs)
• Windows To Go
  Windows To Go
  Windows To Go is a feature in Windows 8 that allows the entire system to run from USB mass storage devices such as flash drives and external hard drives....