Thursday 7 August 2008

07. World on a USB


Ever turned up somewhere and found the software you need is not on the computer you are allocated? Maybe the Powerpoint software for your presentation is too old. Or perhaps you rely on text-to-speech and you don't take have the installation discs with you on holiday. (Yes there are still people who don't do that!) The latest answer is to carry all your software on your memory device.

Of course it is never quite that easy as you cannot use any software and just transfer it to the USB device. It has to be compatible. However, there is plenty of free software, such as Open Office Portable, which covers all the standard applications of word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations (and yes, they can read the Microsoft equivalent).

And the future? We shall have all our software installed on the memory card in our mobile phones and use the built in wifi capability to connect to a "dumb terminal" which is the keyboard and screen. But that may have to wait a month or two.

The Portable Office can be found at:
www.portableapps.com

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