Bloggers@large

I have been looking at several portable solutions for my own use: I travel a fair deal and I like to take my data with me. So I decided to make a list of pro’s and con’s for my own reference. After looking at my list I decided to publish it: there are really a lot of options in the market nowadays, and I think it is good to see how they compare. All the options I review here (not too much indepth) are options I have tried myself so I can state that I have first hand experience with them.

I reviewed the following options (all PC related):

• U3 Usb Sticks
• Windows XP PE (Windows Live CD/DVD)
• Linux Live (CD/DVD)
• MojoPac

If you feel I left your favorite solution out of the equasion, or wrote something you don’t agree with, just leave some feedback.

The U3 Way
More and more USB sticks have so-called pre-installed portable software on them. U3 for instance has this. Basically you can run the apps from a stick.

1. Pro: no (re)boot required
2. Pro: works in Internetcafe’s, schools etc..
3. Con: works only with Windows 2000 and XP (no Vista version yet)
4. Con: Does leave traces on host PC (depending on application it *does* write info to the registry of the host)
5. Con: does not run independant from host
6. Pro: you can install new apps, but they have to be U3 apps

The XP way:
XP has with something that is called Windows “PE” (Pre-install Environment).

With that you can run a trimmed down version of Windows from a DVD or CD. Just have a look here: BartPE Bootable LIVE Windows.

Now here is the catch: running BartPE or any XP based liveCD, has some MAJOR drawbacks, the most important are:

1. Con: You need to boot from CD/DVD (usually not possible at internet cafe/school)
2. Con: Performance: it’s slow as heck
3. Con: You can’t save any files
4. Con: Hardware support is limited (to drivers on DVD/CD)
5. Con: Does not run from USB stick or external harddrive
6. Con: You can’t install new programs
7. Pro: Secure; almost no chance of virusses or keyloggers (bar the hardware kind)
8. Works only on X86 hardware, not 64bit
9. Pro: leaves no traces at host
10. Pro: runs independant from host, its a OS in itself
11. Con: trimmed down version of Windows so not all functionality is there

I would say 2,3 and 6 are the major problems here.

The Linux Way:
Linux, which is also an OS, runs perfectly from a CD or DVD. That is called a LIVE CD of DVD. Check out Knoppix for instance. It also runs from a USB stick or external harddisk.

Now, if you look at the “Live Linux” way then this would be the drawbacks/advantages:

1. Con: you need to boot from CD/DVD/USB (usually not possible at internet cafe/school)
2. Pro: performance is a lot better than PE because of the way Linux works
3. Con: Performance, although better than PE still not blazing fast
4. Pro: you can save files to either a USB stick, harddisk or external HD
5. Pro: hardware support is superior to PE but still less than XP or normal Linux
6. Con: getting it to run from a USB stick or external HD is 100% dependent on your hardware so it doesn’t work everywhere
7. Pro: You can install programs (in combination with USB stick)
8. It’s Linux so usually more complicated
9. Pro: Secure; almost no chance of virusses or keyloggers (bar the hardware kind)
10. Leaves no traces at host
11. Pro: runs independant from host, its a OS in itself
12. Works on any platform: x86 64-bit, Mac PowerPC etc…

XP and The MojoPac way:
Now, lets have a look ate MojoPac. So far this looks like a very good trade between options and use. It comes close to what I think is almost perfect for portability.

1. Pro: no boot required
2. Con: Admin rights required; usually you do not have this at an Internetcafe/School
3. Con: Security? What about keyloggers on host?
4. Pro: performance (still depends on hardware of host though)
5. Pro: Install almost anything
6. Pro: Portability since it runs from most devices
7. Con: Vista is around the corner and MojoPac does not work with Vista (tested on Vista RC1 by me) so it looks like dead-end software
8. Pro: leaves (almost) no traces at host (note: I can state from my own experience that its sometimes messes with settings like GUI sizes for buttons and font-sizes!)
9. Con: depends on a host to work because it is not really a OS
10. con: it’s beta software, so expect glitches

Verdict:

As far as portability and use goes, I think MojoPack has a lot of potential. It is a bit like having a virtual OS with you.

But I think that 2,3 and definately 7 are going to be a huge problem for it. Schools, Internetcafe’s etc. usally do not give admin rights to a regular user. So MojoPac won’t work there at all.

Now, say you’re an avid gamer; you can take your portbale device with you (instead of your PC), plug it in and just start your game right? Well, not always because you *do* depend on the host PC for performance and such. And as far as lan-parties go: you do want to take your own PC because how many lan-parties do you know that have hardware you can just use?

And then another *major* drawback: Vista is about to come out. Since MojoPac runs on XP and it’s still beta, what will the upgrade path be? And, given the incredible tight security of Vista: will it ever work? Right now the current version does not run on Vista RC1.

If you take a look at the Linux way, it is very flexible and it runs on virtually every hardware (although especially laptops are notorious for issues). But it is a bit to geeky and it limited in interoperability with windows.

U3 is good but only works with Windows and seems more for the occasional/business user.

Bottomline: there is no perfect solution and whatever you choose or want to use it will always have pro’s and con’s and which ones are important really depend on you and the way you want to use it.

One thing is for sure: the approach MojoPac has is new and unique and definately will appeal to a specific audience that wants more functionality. However, I think that with Vista around the corner it will be tough for MojoPac; especially gamers seem to be ‘cutting edge’ people that want the newest and the best. And without Vista support I don’t see MojoPac survive long.

So far for my ‘expert’ opinion’.