Last Christmas I recieved a 2gb usb drive, which far outclassed previous usb drive of 256 mb. What good is so much storage space you wonder? Backing up key files is important, but unless you go crazy you should have ample space left over. Having a backup of files is important, but what about being able to edit them on any computer, using your software with your settings, not the computer’s that you plugged it into.

A portable application is an app that can be installed and booted from your usb drive, no matter which computer your using. In other words, all the files for the portable app have to able to fit on the drive. This opens up a whole new realm of possibilities, editing your files on the go, taking your workstation with you, even your games.

But a persistent question remains - what to put on it? From my own experience, these are the top  apps and games to put on your usb drive, in no particular order.

Games

1. Previously mentioned Teeworlds, a 2D platforming shooting game, works just as well off of a folder on your usb drive as a folder on your computer. The basic premise of teeworlds is simple: give a bunch of “tees” (they look like Kirby) loose in an online arena with a bunch of weapons and see who comes out victorious. Their tagline? “Cute little buggers with guns.”

2. N. That’s it. Just “N.” To put it simply, this is the platforming game. You star as a peace loving ninja. Or stick figure. Whatever. The Ninja code is clear however - you must get through five caves in a row before you fast metabolism kills you. Which it will, unless you gather gold along the way. Why does gold stop your fast metabolism? I don’t know. It’s just a cheesy back story. But do yourself a favor, and get N. Download it thewayoftheninja.org. Just drag the extracted folder onto your usb drive.

3. Within a Deep Forest. You are a ball on an epic journey to save the world. That’s the simple version. This game is hard to describe. It’s one half platformer, one half rpg, and one half good music. That doesn’t add up? Well neither does this game. Download.

Portable Apps

Portable Apps packages popular open source software in a self contained portable version. They have a suit or applications, or you can download apps individually. These are the best of the best.

1. 7-Zip Portable. If your bringing your entire workstation with you, it’s likely that you’ll be downloading files also. Files are often compressed into various formats, such as .zip or .rar, to preserve space and bandwidth. By default, windows can only extract .zip archives. Bring 7-Zip along on your usb drive to handle almost every type of archive.

2. FileZilla Portable. You log on to your computer to check on a ftp site you have, only to find that you can’t ftp. Windows Explorer has basic ftp functionality, but it’s nowhere near as robust as FileZilla. So why not bring FileZilla with you?

3. Gimp Portable. Who needs photoshop? The open source image editing program has much of the same functionality, though it’s user interface is a bit wacky.

4. VLC portable. VLC is a media player adored by fans not only for it’s simplicity and size, but also it’s main features: it will play almost any type of music or movie.

5. Firefox portable. Grab either Firefox 2 or the latest beta; either way being able to take your extensions, settings, and bookmarks with you for use on any computer is pretty sweet.

Other

1. uTorrent. Strictly speaking, uTorrent doesn’t have a portable version for getting your torrent fix at your friends house. However, TorrentFreak explains how to use the popular bittorrent client on a usb drive. Portable uTorrent.

2. Tiddlywiki is a “reusable non-linear personal notebook.” Basically, it’s a wiki designed to be a notebook contained within a single html file. It takes some getting used to, but it makes taking notes extremely easy.  As it’s just a html file, it’s perfect for a usb drive.

3. Launchy is an open source keystroke launcher for windows. To run it from a usb drive, simply copy the main Launchy directory and enable USB mode in it’s menu.