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That will only be useful IF and this are pretty big IFs 1.- They even know what an alternative OS is and want to run one, and 2.- You have some way to test that Ubuntu will have ALL of the drivers for the myriad of hardware these people have so it all "just works" OOTB.

Since he mentions things such as games it is most likely he is NOT talking about Linux users as they would just get such things from their repo so all they would do is stick in the disc and find a bunch of files they simply wouldn't know what to do with. oh and then you get the "fun" of explaining what a BIOS is, how to get into it, how to switch it from whatever the OEM had it to having a removable drive be first boot, calming them down when they think you are "gonna break it", wow,talk about the gift that keeps on giving!

So let us assume the most likely scenario which is that these are Windows users who don't desire to learn how to switch operating systems for Xmas and think of some truly HELPFUL suggestions. Since I have actually made many a similar device in disc format I believe I can give some good ideas to get the ball rolling. you start with the always useful and free portable apps launcher that gives you a nice base to work off of and gives them a nice single .exe they can "clicky clicky". Then assuming they are happy with their AV and antimalware (which if not I'd put in the launcher for Avast Free and MalwareBytes under a heading of "antivirus") we move on to categories.

First we have LibreOffice which frankly I wouldn't have, while its a nice suite I've found most never use more than Writer and it wastes space so I'd go with AbiWord. For Internet Firefox is too slow and Chrome calls home so I would use either Comodo Dragon which to make portable simply install onto a folder on the flash while checking the "portable' box or QT Web which is a nice portable browser based on QT naturally. Personally I'd give them both, they are light and why not give them choice? Thunderbird, don't bother as even those that think they are on email are actually on webmail nowadays so use that space for InstantBird instead. Oh and throw in a few graphics programs just for fun, like Fotografix and Cornice as they are light and pretty simple.

Moving on to games we have Armagetron for a little Tron goodness, we have Atomic Tanks for a little Worms style fun, i know many will say Wesnoth but that game is a little hardcore if you're not already heavily into TBS so I'd skip it and if I were to put a strategy I'd go with Warzone 2100, Brutal Chess for a little 3D chess fun along with the always popular Texas Hold 'Em along with one of the several shooters and a nice Puzzle collection just to round things out.

Because unless they actually WANT to learn alternative OSes, the inside of their BIOS, and a completely new way of doing everything then saying 'Just put linux on it" really isn't a very nice gift now is it? I hope everyone sees that this gives them a simple useful gift with tons of software they can use NOW without needing to spend an hour or more being walked through changing the BIOS, how to find out if hardware has been detected, what to do if the wireless isn't working, etc. That is about as "fun" a way to spend

That will only be useful IF and this are pretty big IFs 1.- They even know what an alternative OS is and want to run one, and 2.- You have some way to test that Ubuntu will have ALL of the drivers for the myriad of hardware these people have so it all "just works" OOTB.

Since he mentions things such as games it is most likely he is NOT talking about Linux users as they would just get such things from their repo so all they would do is stick in the disc and find a bunch of files they simply wouldn't know what to do with. oh and then you get the "fun" of explaining what a BIOS is, how to get into it, how to switch it from whatever the OEM had it to having a removable drive be first boot, calming them down when they think you are "gonna break it", wow,talk about the gift that keeps on giving!

So let us assume the most likely scenario which is that these are Windows users who don't desire to learn how to switch operating systems for Xmas and think of some truly HELPFUL suggestions. Since I have actually made many a similar device in disc format I believe I can give some good ideas to get the ball rolling. you start with the always useful and free portable apps launcher that gives you a nice base to work off of and gives them a nice single .exe they can "clicky clicky". Then assuming they are happy with their AV and antimalware (which if not I'd put in the launcher for Avast Free and MalwareBytes under a heading of "antivirus") we move on to categories.

First we have LibreOffice which frankly I wouldn't have, while its a nice suite I've found most never use more than Writer and it wastes space so I'd go with AbiWord. For Internet Firefox is too slow and Chrome calls home so I would use either Comodo Dragon which to make portable simply install onto a folder on the flash while checking the "portable' box or QT Web which is a nice portable browser based on QT naturally. Personally I'd give them both, they are light and why not give them choice? Thunderbird, don't bother as even those that think they are on email are actually on webmail nowadays so use that space for InstantBird instead. Oh and throw in a few graphics programs just for fun, like Fotografix and Cornice as they are light and pretty simple.

Moving on to games we have Armagetron for a little Tron goodness, we have Atomic Tanks for a little Worms style fun, i know many will say Wesnoth but that game is a little hardcore if you're not already heavily into TBS so I'd skip it and if I were to put a strategy I'd go with Warzone 2100, Brutal Chess for a little 3D chess fun along with the always popular Texas Hold 'Em along with one of the several shooters and a nice Puzzle collection just to round things out.

Because unless they actually WANT to learn alternative OSes, the inside of their BIOS, and a completely new way of doing everything then saying 'Just put linux on it" really isn't a very nice gift now is it? I hope everyone sees that this gives them a simple useful gift with tons of software they can use NOW without needing to spend an hour or more being walked through changing the BIOS, how to find out if hardware has been detected, what to do if the wireless isn't working, etc. That is about as "fun" a way to spend

That will only be useful IF and this are pretty big IFs 1.- They even know what an alternative OS is and want to run one, and 2.- You have some way to test that Ubuntu will have ALL of the drivers for the myriad of hardware these people have so it all "just works" OOTB.

Since he mentions things such as games it is most likely he is NOT talking about Linux users as they would just get such things from their repo so all they would do is stick in the disc and find a bunch of files they simply wouldn't know what to do with. oh and then you get the "fun" of explaining what a BIOS is, how to get into it, how to switch it from whatever the OEM had it to having a removable drive be first boot, calming them down when they think you are "gonna break it", wow,talk about the gift that keeps on giving!

So let us assume the most likely scenario which is that these are Windows users who don't desire to learn how to switch operating systems for Xmas and think of some truly HELPFUL suggestions. Since I have actually made many a similar device in disc format I believe I can give some good ideas to get the ball rolling. you start with the always useful and free portable apps launcher that gives you a nice base to work off of and gives them a nice single .exe they can "clicky clicky". Then assuming they are happy with their AV and antimalware (which if not I'd put in the launcher for Avast Free and MalwareBytes under a heading of "antivirus") we move on to categories.

First we have LibreOffice which frankly I wouldn't have, while its a nice suite I've found most never use more than Writer and it wastes space so I'd go with AbiWord. For Internet Firefox is too slow and Chrome calls home so I would use either Comodo Dragon which to make portable simply install onto a folder on the flash while checking the "portable' box or QT Web which is a nice portable browser based on QT naturally. Personally I'd give them both, they are light and why not give them choice? Thunderbird, don't bother as even those that think they are on email are actually on webmail nowadays so use that space for InstantBird instead. Oh and throw in a few graphics programs just for fun, like Fotografix and Cornice as they are light and pretty simple.

Moving on to games we have Armagetron for a little Tron goodness, we have Atomic Tanks for a little Worms style fun, i know many will say Wesnoth but that game is a little hardcore if you're not already heavily into TBS so I'd skip it and if I were to put a strategy I'd go with Warzone 2100, Brutal Chess for a little 3D chess fun along with the always popular Texas Hold 'Em along with one of the several shooters and a nice Puzzle collection just to round things out.

Because unless they actually WANT to learn alternative OSes, the inside of their BIOS, and a completely new way of doing everything then saying 'Just put linux on it" really isn't a very nice gift now is it? I hope everyone sees that this gives them a simple useful gift with tons of software they can use NOW without needing to spend an hour or more being walked through changing the BIOS, how to find out if hardware has been detected, what to do if the wireless isn't working, etc. That is about as "fun" a way to spend

That will only be useful IF and this are pretty big IFs 1.- They even know what an alternative OS is and want to run one, and 2.- You have some way to test that Ubuntu will have ALL of the drivers for the myriad of hardware these people have so it all "just works" OOTB.

Since he mentions things such as games it is most likely he is NOT talking about Linux users as they would just get such things from their repo so all they would do is stick in the disc and find a bunch of files they simply wouldn't know what to do with. oh and then you get the "fun" of explaining what a BIOS is, how to get into it, how to switch it from whatever the OEM had it to having a removable drive be first boot, calming them down when they think you are "gonna break it", wow,talk about the gift that keeps on giving!

So let us assume the most likely scenario which is that these are Windows users who don't desire to learn how to switch operating systems for Xmas and think of some truly HELPFUL suggestions. Since I have actually made many a similar device in disc format I believe I can give some good ideas to get the ball rolling. you start with the always useful and free portable apps launcher that gives you a nice base to work off of and gives them a nice single .exe they can "clicky clicky". Then assuming they are happy with their AV and antimalware (which if not I'd put in the launcher for Avast Free and MalwareBytes under a heading of "antivirus") we move on to categories.

First we have LibreOffice which frankly I wouldn't have, while its a nice suite I've found most never use more than Writer and it wastes space so I'd go with AbiWord. For Internet Firefox is too slow and Chrome calls home so I would use either Comodo Dragon which to make portable simply install onto a folder on the flash while checking the "portable' box or QT Web which is a nice portable browser based on QT naturally. Personally I'd give them both, they are light and why not give them choice? Thunderbird, don't bother as even those that think they are on email are actually on webmail nowadays so use that space for InstantBird instead. Oh and throw in a few graphics programs just for fun, like Fotografix and Cornice as they are light and pretty simple.

Moving on to games we have Armagetron for a little Tron goodness, we have Atomic Tanks for a little Worms style fun, i know many will say Wesnoth but that game is a little hardcore if you're not already heavily into TBS so I'd skip it and if I were to put a strategy I'd go with Warzone 2100, Brutal Chess for a little 3D chess fun along with the always popular Texas Hold 'Em along with one of the several shooters and a nice Puzzle collection just to round things out.

Because unless they actually WANT to learn alternative OSes, the inside of their BIOS, and a completely new way of doing everything then saying 'Just put linux on it" really isn't a very nice gift now is it? I hope everyone sees that this gives them a simple useful gift with tons of software they can use NOW without needing to spend an hour or more being walked through changing the BIOS, how to find out if hardware has been detected, what to do if the wireless isn't working, etc. That is about as "fun" a way to spend

That will only be useful IF and this are pretty big IFs 1.- They even know what an alternative OS is and want to run one, and 2.- You have some way to test that Ubuntu will have ALL of the drivers for the myriad of hardware these people have so it all "just works" OOTB.

Since he mentions things such as games it is most likely he is NOT talking about Linux users as they would just get such things from their repo so all they would do is stick in the disc and find a bunch of files they simply wouldn't know what to do with. oh and then you get the "fun" of explaining what a BIOS is, how to get into it, how to switch it from whatever the OEM had it to having a removable drive be first boot, calming them down when they think you are "gonna break it", wow,talk about the gift that keeps on giving!

So let us assume the most likely scenario which is that these are Windows users who don't desire to learn how to switch operating systems for Xmas and think of some truly HELPFUL suggestions. Since I have actually made many a similar device in disc format I believe I can give some good ideas to get the ball rolling. you start with the always useful and free portable apps launcher that gives you a nice base to work off of and gives them a nice single .exe they can "clicky clicky". Then assuming they are happy with their AV and antimalware (which if not I'd put in the launcher for Avast Free and MalwareBytes under a heading of "antivirus") we move on to categories.

First we have LibreOffice which frankly I wouldn't have, while its a nice suite I've found most never use more than Writer and it wastes space so I'd go with AbiWord. For Internet Firefox is too slow and Chrome calls home so I would use either Comodo Dragon which to make portable simply install onto a folder on the flash while checking the "portable' box or QT Web which is a nice portable browser based on QT naturally. Personally I'd give them both, they are light and why not give them choice? Thunderbird, don't bother as even those that think they are on email are actually on webmail nowadays so use that space for InstantBird instead. Oh and throw in a few graphics programs just for fun, like Fotografix and Cornice as they are light and pretty simple.

Moving on to games we have Armagetron for a little Tron goodness, we have Atomic Tanks for a little Worms style fun, i know many will say Wesnoth but that game is a little hardcore if you're not already heavily into TBS so I'd skip it and if I were to put a strategy I'd go with Warzone 2100, Brutal Chess for a little 3D chess fun along with the always popular Texas Hold 'Em along with one of the several shooters and a nice Puzzle collection just to round things out.

Because unless they actually WANT to learn alternative OSes, the inside of their BIOS, and a completely new way of doing everything then saying 'Just put linux on it" really isn't a very nice gift now is it? I hope everyone sees that this gives them a simple useful gift with tons of software they can use NOW without needing to spend an hour or more being walked through changing the BIOS, how to find out if hardware has been detected, what to do if the wireless isn't working, etc. That is about as "fun" a way to spend

That will only be useful IF and this are pretty big IFs 1.- They even know what an alternative OS is and want to run one, and 2.- You have some way to test that Ubuntu will have ALL of the drivers for the myriad of hardware these people have so it all "just works" OOTB.

Since he mentions things such as games it is most likely he is NOT talking about Linux users as they would just get such things from their repo so all they would do is stick in the disc and find a bunch of files they simply wouldn't know what to do with. oh and then you get the "fun" of explaining what a BIOS is, how to get into it, how to switch it from whatever the OEM had it to having a removable drive be first boot, calming them down when they think you are "gonna break it", wow,talk about the gift that keeps on giving!

So let us assume the most likely scenario which is that these are Windows users who don't desire to learn how to switch operating systems for Xmas and think of some truly HELPFUL suggestions. Since I have actually made many a similar device in disc format I believe I can give some good ideas to get the ball rolling. you start with the always useful and free portable apps launcher that gives you a nice base to work off of and gives them a nice single .exe they can "clicky clicky". Then assuming they are happy with their AV and antimalware (which if not I'd put in the launcher for Avast Free and MalwareBytes under a heading of "antivirus") we move on to categories.

First we have LibreOffice which frankly I wouldn't have, while its a nice suite I've found most never use more than Writer and it wastes space so I'd go with AbiWord. For Internet Firefox is too slow and Chrome calls home so I would use either Comodo Dragon which to make portable simply install onto a folder on the flash while checking the "portable' box or QT Web which is a nice portable browser based on QT naturally. Personally I'd give them both, they are light and why not give them choice? Thunderbird, don't bother as even those that think they are on email are actually on webmail nowadays so use that space for InstantBird instead. Oh and throw in a few graphics programs just for fun, like Fotografix and Cornice as they are light and pretty simple.

Moving on to games we have Armagetron for a little Tron goodness, we have Atomic Tanks for a little Worms style fun, i know many will say Wesnoth but that game is a little hardcore if you're not already heavily into TBS so I'd skip it and if I were to put a strategy I'd go with Warzone 2100, Brutal Chess for a little 3D chess fun along with the always popular Texas Hold 'Em along with one of the several shooters and a nice Puzzle collection just to round things out.

Because unless they actually WANT to learn alternative OSes, the inside of their BIOS, and a completely new way of doing everything then saying 'Just put linux on it" really isn't a very nice gift now is it? I hope everyone sees that this gives them a simple useful gift with tons of software they can use NOW without needing to spend an hour or more being walked through changing the BIOS, how to find out if hardware has been detected, what to do if the wireless isn't working, etc. That is about as "fun" a way to spend

That will only be useful IF and this are pretty big IFs 1.- They even know what an alternative OS is and want to run one, and 2.- You have some way to test that Ubuntu will have ALL of the drivers for the myriad of hardware these people have so it all "just works" OOTB.

Since he mentions things such as games it is most likely he is NOT talking about Linux users as they would just get such things from their repo so all they would do is stick in the disc and find a bunch of files they simply wouldn't know what to do with. oh and then you get the "fun" of explaining what a BIOS is, how to get into it, how to switch it from whatever the OEM had it to having a removable drive be first boot, calming them down when they think you are "gonna break it", wow,talk about the gift that keeps on giving!

So let us assume the most likely scenario which is that these are Windows users who don't desire to learn how to switch operating systems for Xmas and think of some truly HELPFUL suggestions. Since I have actually made many a similar device in disc format I believe I can give some good ideas to get the ball rolling. you start with the always useful and free portable apps launcher that gives you a nice base to work off of and gives them a nice single .exe they can "clicky clicky". Then assuming they are happy with their AV and antimalware (which if not I'd put in the launcher for Avast Free and MalwareBytes under a heading of "antivirus") we move on to categories.

First we have LibreOffice which frankly I wouldn't have, while its a nice suite I've found most never use more than Writer and it wastes space so I'd go with AbiWord. For Internet Firefox is too slow and Chrome calls home so I would use either Comodo Dragon which to make portable simply install onto a folder on the flash while checking the "portable' box or QT Web which is a nice portable browser based on QT naturally. Personally I'd give them both, they are light and why not give them choice? Thunderbird, don't bother as even those that think they are on email are actually on webmail nowadays so use that space for InstantBird instead. Oh and throw in a few graphics programs just for fun, like Fotografix and Cornice as they are light and pretty simple.

Moving on to games we have Armagetron for a little Tron goodness, we have Atomic Tanks for a little Worms style fun, i know many will say Wesnoth but that game is a little hardcore if you're not already heavily into TBS so I'd skip it and if I were to put a strategy I'd go with Warzone 2100, Brutal Chess for a little 3D chess fun along with the always popular Texas Hold 'Em along with one of the several shooters and a nice Puzzle collection just to round things out.

Because unless they actually WANT to learn alternative OSes, the inside of their BIOS, and a completely new way of doing everything then saying 'Just put linux on it" really isn't a very nice gift now is it? I hope everyone sees that this gives them a simple useful gift with tons of software they can use NOW without needing to spend an hour or more being walked through changing the BIOS, how to find out if hardware has been detected, what to do if the wireless isn't working, etc. That is about as "fun" a way to spend

That will only be useful IF and this are pretty big IFs 1.- They even know what an alternative OS is and want to run one, and 2.- You have some way to test that Ubuntu will have ALL of the drivers for the myriad of hardware these people have so it all "just works" OOTB.

Since he mentions things such as games it is most likely he is NOT talking about Linux users as they would just get such things from their repo so all they would do is stick in the disc and find a bunch of files they simply wouldn't know what to do with. oh and then you get the "fun" of explaining what a BIOS is, how to get into it, how to switch it from whatever the OEM had it to having a removable drive be first boot, calming them down when they think you are "gonna break it", wow,talk about the gift that keeps on giving!

So let us assume the most likely scenario which is that these are Windows users who don't desire to learn how to switch operating systems for Xmas and think of some truly HELPFUL suggestions. Since I have actually made many a similar device in disc format I believe I can give some good ideas to get the ball rolling. you start with the always useful and free portable apps launcher that gives you a nice base to work off of and gives them a nice single .exe they can "clicky clicky". Then assuming they are happy with their AV and antimalware (which if not I'd put in the launcher for Avast Free and MalwareBytes under a heading of "antivirus") we move on to categories.

First we have LibreOffice which frankly I wouldn't have, while its a nice suite I've found most never use more than Writer and it wastes space so I'd go with AbiWord. For Internet Firefox is too slow and Chrome calls home so I would use either Comodo Dragon which to make portable simply install onto a folder on the flash while checking the "portable' box or QT Web which is a nice portable browser based on QT naturally. Personally I'd give them both, they are light and why not give them choice? Thunderbird, don't bother as even those that think they are on email are actually on webmail nowadays so use that space for InstantBird instead. Oh and throw in a few graphics programs just for fun, like Fotografix and Cornice as they are light and pretty simple.

Moving on to games we have Armagetron for a little Tron goodness, we have Atomic Tanks for a little Worms style fun, i know many will say Wesnoth but that game is a little hardcore if you're not already heavily into TBS so I'd skip it and if I were to put a strategy I'd go with Warzone 2100, Brutal Chess for a little 3D chess fun along with the always popular Texas Hold 'Em along with one of the several shooters and a nice Puzzle collection just to round things out.

Because unless they actually WANT to learn alternative OSes, the inside of their BIOS, and a completely new way of doing everything then saying 'Just put linux on it" really isn't a very nice gift now is it? I hope everyone sees that this gives them a simple useful gift with tons of software they can use NOW without needing to spend an hour or more being walked through changing the BIOS, how to find out if hardware has been detected, what to do if the wireless isn't working, etc. That is about as "fun" a way to spend

That will only be useful IF and this are pretty big IFs 1.- They even know what an alternative OS is and want to run one, and 2.- You have some way to test that Ubuntu will have ALL of the drivers for the myriad of hardware these people have so it all "just works" OOTB.

Since he mentions things such as games it is most likely he is NOT talking about Linux users as they would just get such things from their repo so all they would do is stick in the disc and find a bunch of files they simply wouldn't know what to do with. oh and then you get the "fun" of explaining what a BIOS is, how to get into it, how to switch it from whatever the OEM had it to having a removable drive be first boot, calming them down when they think you are "gonna break it", wow,talk about the gift that keeps on giving!

So let us assume the most likely scenario which is that these are Windows users who don't desire to learn how to switch operating systems for Xmas and think of some truly HELPFUL suggestions. Since I have actually made many a similar device in disc format I believe I can give some good ideas to get the ball rolling. you start with the always useful and free portable apps launcher that gives you a nice base to work off of and gives them a nice single .exe they can "clicky clicky". Then assuming they are happy with their AV and antimalware (which if not I'd put in the launcher for Avast Free and MalwareBytes under a heading of "antivirus") we move on to categories.

First we have LibreOffice which frankly I wouldn't have, while its a nice suite I've found most never use more than Writer and it wastes space so I'd go with AbiWord. For Internet Firefox is too slow and Chrome calls home so I would use either Comodo Dragon which to make portable simply install onto a folder on the flash while checking the "portable' box or QT Web which is a nice portable browser based on QT naturally. Personally I'd give them both, they are light and why not give them choice? Thunderbird, don't bother as even those that think they are on email are actually on webmail nowadays so use that space for InstantBird instead. Oh and throw in a few graphics programs just for fun, like Fotografix and Cornice as they are light and pretty simple.

Moving on to games we have Armagetron for a little Tron goodness, we have Atomic Tanks for a little Worms style fun, i know many will say Wesnoth but that game is a little hardcore if you're not already heavily into TBS so I'd skip it and if I were to put a strategy I'd go with Warzone 2100, Brutal Chess for a little 3D chess fun along with the always popular Texas Hold 'Em along with one of the several shooters and a nice Puzzle collection just to round things out.

Because unless they actually WANT to learn alternative OSes, the inside of their BIOS, and a completely new way of doing everything then saying 'Just put linux on it" really isn't a very nice gift now is it? I hope everyone sees that this gives them a simple useful gift with tons of software they can use NOW without needing to spend an hour or more being walked through changing the BIOS, how to find out if hardware has been detected, what to do if the wireless isn't working, etc. That is about as "fun" a way to spend

That will only be useful IF and this are pretty big IFs 1.- They even know what an alternative OS is and want to run one, and 2.- You have some way to test that Ubuntu will have ALL of the drivers for the myriad of hardware these people have so it all "just works" OOTB.

Since he mentions things such as games it is most likely he is NOT talking about Linux users as they would just get such things from their repo so all they would do is stick in the disc and find a bunch of files they simply wouldn't know what to do with. oh and then you get the "fun" of explaining what a BIOS is, how to get into it, how to switch it from whatever the OEM had it to having a removable drive be first boot, calming them down when they think you are "gonna break it", wow,talk about the gift that keeps on giving!

So let us assume the most likely scenario which is that these are Windows users who don't desire to learn how to switch operating systems for Xmas and think of some truly HELPFUL suggestions. Since I have actually made many a similar device in disc format I believe I can give some good ideas to get the ball rolling. you start with the always useful and free portable apps launcher that gives you a nice base to work off of and gives them a nice single .exe they can "clicky clicky". Then assuming they are happy with their AV and antimalware (which if not I'd put in the launcher for Avast Free and MalwareBytes under a heading of "antivirus") we move on to categories.

First we have LibreOffice which frankly I wouldn't have, while its a nice suite I've found most never use more than Writer and it wastes space so I'd go with AbiWord. For Internet Firefox is too slow and Chrome calls home so I would use either Comodo Dragon which to make portable simply install onto a folder on the flash while checking the "portable' box or QT Web which is a nice portable browser based on QT naturally. Personally I'd give them both, they are light and why not give them choice? Thunderbird, don't bother as even those that think they are on email are actually on webmail nowadays so use that space for InstantBird instead. Oh and throw in a few graphics programs just for fun, like Fotografix and Cornice as they are light and pretty simple.

Moving on to games we have Armagetron for a little Tron goodness, we have Atomic Tanks for a little Worms style fun, i know many will say Wesnoth but that game is a little hardcore if you're not already heavily into TBS so I'd skip it and if I were to put a strategy I'd go with Warzone 2100, Brutal Chess for a little 3D chess fun along with the always popular Texas Hold 'Em along with one of the several shooters and a nice Puzzle collection just to round things out.

Because unless they actually WANT to learn alternative OSes, the inside of their BIOS, and a completely new way of doing everything then saying 'Just put linux on it" really isn't a very nice gift now is it? I hope everyone sees that this gives them a simple useful gift with tons of software they can use NOW without needing to spend an hour or more being walked through changing the BIOS, how to find out if hardware has been detected, what to do if the wireless isn't working, etc. That is about as "fun" a way to spend

You should fill it full of stuff from PortableApps. Tons of great programs there. Plus they don't have to install anything. No worry about messing up their computer.

Why the hell your comment is not being modded up I don't know. I already run PortableApps where practical. Saves me time when setting up a new machine. All I do to put them on a USB stick is copy the directory. Done.

Unfortunately VLMC is still in Alpha. VirtualDub for Windows and Cinelerra for Linux are free Video Editors you might add. Audacity is a pretty cool sound editor. For your Gift for Windows Users you might want to take a look at Portable Apps.

I posted the following to this same exact post that Jeng did:

http://slashdot.org/submission/1854046/good-useful-free-software

For some reason, this post was posted again, and edited, not sure why. But here was my answser to the original question:

You have many different portable application suites to choose from:

PortableApps.com (seems to be the most popular):
http://portableapps.com/

LiberKey (is somewhat new, and hasn't been around all that long, but it's catching up to PortableApps.com):
http://liberkey.com/en.html

I've never heard of the following two, so you may want to check them out anyway:

Pendriveapps:
http://www.pendriveapps.com/

winPenPack:
http://www.winpenpack.com/main/news.php

FINALLY a mention of PortableApps!

I have been free of the need to support any Windows users for years now, but from around 2000 through 2007 I made a few hundred USB thumb drives loaded with office and graphics software from PortableApps, as well as job related documents, Firefox bookmarks, word processor and spreadsheet templates, and just about everything else a new employee at a particular hospital (2000 - 2002) or a student in a job training program (2003 - 2007) would need. Costs of distribution were lower than hardcopy, the material was more easily available to the user, and with so many persons working from the same USB image, some of the advantages of standardization were realized (students were able to help each other find documents or learn to use some feature).

If you go ahead with this, do consider using PortableApps. If I recall correctly, they had a fairly painless process for updates, for one thing.

If I were doing this for a family, I would do as others suggested and build a photo album on the stick as well. And maybe digitize some family documents, collections of ancestors' letters, the family tree, a recording of the family singing Christmas carols, etc.

I would also start thinking about how to make updating the data stash a family yuletide tradition.

If they are using Windows, I suggest the full collection of PortableApps from http://www.portableapps.com/ It will runs directly from your flash drive and is really useful! :-)

You should fill it full of stuff from PortableApps. Tons of great programs there. Plus they don't have to install anything. No worry about messing up their computer.

Try this:
    http://keepass.info/

Works in Linux, Windows, and I believe OSX

I believe it also is available as part of portableapps
    http://portableapps.com/

You can save encrypted databases of passwords. You need the master PW to access the database, from which you can then save/load a list of URL's, userid's, passwords, etc.

the start menu is an easier way of locating programs than anything else that MS has provided. The only reason I can think of for people not using it is that they already have the 3 programs they use pinned to the task bar.

Seriously, this is another example of GUI design based on the average idiot user. Misguided and idiotic GUI redesigns serve no purpose but to annoy the userbase (ex. KDE4 and GNOME3). I find that I use the Start menu far less often because I've moved the apps I use to the PA menu. It's my way of doing what MS should have done a long time ago - separation and modularization of the apps from the OS (no install, no registry crap, etc). Seriously all this GUI rework and MS has yet to implement truly useful and fundamental changes to the OS. They still by default cram all the OS, apps, and data into a single place on a single drive (seriously 'My Documents', 'My Music', etc.. argh, does anyone actually use this idiotic and stupidly placed directory structure for managing their data?) Tying all that together insures when an OS gets corrupted/infected/whatever a reinstall will become a painful and long process.

But no, instead of something useful like eliminating the registry, they spend their time unnecessarily reinventing the GUI. Perhaps at least they will finally discover multiple desktops. Of course just looking at the tile-based monstrosity I can just imagine how they will play the hide-the-system-settings game. Instead of something useful I'm guessing they will play the usual game of shuffling the settings and burying them several layers deep (you know as far as possible from the user).

I am surprised that no one has mentioned XAMPP or Portable XAMPP yet.

I used Portable XAMPP under WinXP as a development environment for several years. It comes with a couple of GUI management tools and has an active community behind it. Advantages: you get a LAMP-like setup on a removable drive running under an OS you are already comfortable with. If things go totally weird, you can replace the XAMPP drive with one loaded with an earlier backup and be confident that none of the weirdness has been left in your system. I found that was a very comforting thought when I was going through the newbie jitters phase.

XAMPP is probably powerful enough to handle 2,500 users doing typical Internet stuff (avoiding serving out hundreds of full length movies, etc). So it might be suitable for your production environment as well as development: install it on a fast fixed HD using Ubuntu Server as the OS and you will have a bullet proof operation that is easy to manage and develop for. XAMPP is plain vanilla and seems to play well with any of the Linux servers.

Here is a link to one source of XAMPP goodness. Anyone who is still using Windows should think about exploring the PortableApps site, too. There are some FOSS gems there.

I use Windirstat Portable to check who is the "disk eater" user of the day.

http://portableapps.com/apps/development/geany_portable

Doesn't require installation, as it's portable, and I'd guess it runs a lot faster than a browser-based version.

It also supports Python, plus a whole bunch more languages.

Why is this modded up?

You can use all of these. Actually I AM USING ALL OF THESE IN 6.0.
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/febe/

1. backup your profile. If you are on windows or you can't command line on linux, use FEBE (yes there's a 3.6 version (scroll down and look in version information), yes it works cross versions), or if linux, cp -r ~/.mozilla ~/.mozillabackup to backup your profile.
2. if windows, use portable firefox. otherwise on linux download the latest executable from the site. you must backup your profile somehow in step one before you do this to allow you to revert and use your settings if you decide to keep your settings. if you are paranoid that some obscure setting wont save use a portable 3.6 and try to clone it.
3. test the new version. if you used portable firefox, you can use FEBE to transfer settings to a real install (portable versions can lag behind drastically). revert if you are pedantic, impatient to configure and install new ui extensions to fix things (like statusbar 4eva, tab mix plus, etc.), or have serious problems.

Literally, don't go apeshit about it. You can do something about it, without addons breaking. New in 6.0 is heuristics for AMO (addons.mozilla.com) plugins to be auto version bumped for beyond versions. You're just gonna whine about it and not take the time to research, nor voice your concern to mozilla, nor know all the facts. By the by, i agree, mozilla should add for enterprise and people who want stability: Stable version and rapid release version of firefox.

I wouldnt leave it up to $_megacorp to decide what is best for my kid unless I vetted their content first. Stuff from websites like NickJR, CatroonNetwork, PBS, Disney and the like all offer kids content that i find appropriate for my 5 year old niece, and its stuff that she is interested in.

If you have any sort of programming knowledge there are a few resources on the web that detail writing simple web crawlers in $lang_du_jeur. Create your own solution that grabs content from sites you approve of and organizes them on an intuitive and kid-friendly web page. Personally, I find this to be a bit too much work, because there are simpler methods to get content for kids

I set up a special firefox install for my niece using Firefox Portable, a carefully configured whitelist add-on, and of course AdBlock Plus I set up bookmarks that link to the flash-game pages of her favorite sites and put them in their own toolbar. This last one is a bit iffy, but i bookmarked youtube searches for her favorite music artists like "hannah montana lyrics" I havent done any research yet, but i also wanna look into creating an image overlay for the youtube video so it'll play audio but she wont see video. Something like Stylish or a Greasemonkey userscript should accomplish that with ease. The setup is easy for her to use. She only has the occasional problem when a site changes its layout and she cant figure out how to start a game.

Have only come across this, have not tried it.

http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/diffpdf_portable

I'd also recommend having a Linux box; you can work in a familiar environment, then share out batch scripts you write via Samba -- read-only for binaries dirs that don't mind being unable to write out config files; writeable (but perhaps not listable) for a centralized location for saving off output from your various scripts, and so forth.

As always, we posted the portable version within a few hours over at PortableApps.com. As we did an extended test of version 4.0 portably following the whole 4.0 beta and RC process, it's turned out to be a nice, stable release. It's great for running from your flash drive, DropBox or just trying out a new firefox install without affecting your local one.

Release Announcement | Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition 4.0 homepage

As always, we posted the portable version within a few hours over at PortableApps.com. As we did an extended test of version 4.0 portably following the whole 4.0 beta and RC process, it's turned out to be a nice, stable release. It's great for running from your flash drive, DropBox or just trying out a new firefox install without affecting your local one.

Release Announcement | Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition 4.0 homepage

As always, we've packaged it for portable use (USB, cloud drive, etc) which also lets you try it out right on your desktop without installing it and impacting your local Firefox install at all.
http://portableapps.com/news/2011-01-14_-_firefox_portable_4.0_beta_9

And it really is noticeably faster than previous released.

...and I'm not buying a portable computer that only works when it can talk to Google's servers (though I'll happily beta test one!). Preventing apps from mucking around with system files is a no-brainer, but that doesn't mean they have to live in the cloud. For corn's sake, they make portable apps for Windows that work fine without touching the OS.

I guess someone hasn't heard of Firefox Portable

Noting that the article doesn't render in something that can't even be classified as a web browser by any modern standard isn't informative, its redundant.

Making applications portable is handy for doing things like running them from a USB stick. It also makes backup much more convenient.

Copy the program and its data in one shot, carry it with you, and use anywhere.

Windows apps are ahead of the game on this one:

http://portableapps.com/

What you're talking about is the use of manifests, and a specific WIN32 call, SetDLLDirectory. Between those two, you can make pretty much any application XCOPY-deployable, although they don't exist on older versions of Windows. The hard part is creating and managing your manifests, as well as keeping track of OS-specific versions of your DLLs, but it's doable. No more SETUP.EXEs, nothing installed in any \System folder, no registry entries. I've deployed some fairly substantial non-.Net applications to XP SP2+, Vista, Windows 7 as well as Server 2003 and 2008 using this method: just copy the application to a directory of your choice, and run. Makes testing a lot easier too.

So, technically I'd say Windows is ahead there, although from the developer's perspective it can be tricky to achieve, and you still have to deal with the issue of licensing and other restrictions for any of your non-free or commercial redistributables. For that reason it's not really a huge advantage for WIndows developers unless you're coding in .Net, where you already have several hundred megabytes of runtimes already in your target OS.

Making applications portable is handy for doing things like running them from a USB stick. It also makes backup much more convenient.

Copy the program and its data in one shot, carry it with you, and use anywhere.

Windows apps are ahead of the game on this one:

http://portableapps.com/

You might want to learn about Portable Apps.

I'm aware of them; they're Windows applications packaged to run on removable media. But these aren't very useful if your application is for a different operating system, or if your administrator has established a Software Restriction Policy against executing binaries on removable media or in the user's home directory, or against executing any binary that the administrator has not signed. For details see my reply to evilviper.

If your users have access to a web browser but lack the privileges to install a native client on machines that they use, then you have no choice but to write your application in a language that runs inside the web browser

You might want to learn about Portable Apps.

Note that Thunderbird is also available in a Portable version for Windows users.

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/thunderbird_portable

Try THAT with Outlook.

I said this in the original article on /. for this exploit, but I'll post it again. I use the portable version of Sumatra PDF on my Windows installation and have never had any problems while using it. I would certainly recommend it to people who do not like Foxit as a replacement for Acrobat.

When in Windows, I use a portable version of Sumatra PDF.

I used thunderbird portable once and it satisfied my needs.
I stored 1 year email history in a cd. To see the mails you just put the cd and execute the exe(It makes a temporal copy in the hard disk if the media is non writeable).

Hope that helps

As far as a "cloud" webmail interface goes Gmail has the best search features (which probably contributes to why so many Slashdotters prefer Gmail), but the search features introduced into the Thunderbird 3.x mail client are the best of any e-mail interface. To even rival the customizability of searches that is available in Thunderbird 3.x would require one to be fluent with command-line commands like find and grep, but acquiring such fluency is temporally expensive.

Timothy (OP) says that he has already tried Thunderbird though, but since his first complaint is that moving the "hundred of thousands of emails" that he has hoarded over the past two decades between the email systems that he has already tried takes "forever to process", Timothy appears to have some unreasonable expectations regarding data sets that large (specifically in regards to migrating and indexing such sets).

For those who do not feel comfortable keeping their e-mails in the cloud, they could always use Thunderbird 3.x as the interface and administer their own IMAP server at home using software like Dovecot.

Or you can pick up a portable copy. Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition

At PortableApps.com, we released the portable package of Firefox 4.0 Beta 1 yesterday soon after 4.0 Beta 1 dropped. It's a great way to test the latest beta without impacting your current Firefox install since it runs self-contained from a single directory. You can even install it to your Desktop or Documents folder.

Try Mozilla Firefox 4.0 Beta 1 out today with Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition 4.0 Beta 1

Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition 4.0 Beta 1 homepage

At PortableApps.com, we released the portable package of Firefox 4.0 Beta 1 yesterday soon after 4.0 Beta 1 dropped. It's a great way to test the latest beta without impacting your current Firefox install since it runs self-contained from a single directory. You can even install it to your Desktop or Documents folder.

Try Mozilla Firefox 4.0 Beta 1 out today with Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition 4.0 Beta 1

Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition 4.0 Beta 1 homepage

ClamWin Portable from http://portableapps.com/

you should definitely check out portableapps.com Lots of OSS that can be ran from a thumb drive.

You can even keep a copy of it on a thumbdrive and run it from there without installing:
PortableApps Version

Also not affiliated with the project or the portable apps folks, just like both.

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable Portable Firefox has been around for years. I used it at least 6 years ago to bypass my high school's insistence on Internet explorer.

Which I really like and would use also at work, if there was a portable version (so I can run it without installing it).

If you mean Portable Firefox, it's here. If you mean Portable Chrome, it's here. If you want to try Portable Opera, it's here.

And Portable IE7, though I believe you need IE6 installed, which isn't very portable at all, but it's here.

Which I really like and would use also at work, if there was a portable version (so I can run it without installing it).

If you mean Portable Firefox, it's here. If you mean Portable Chrome, it's here. If you want to try Portable Opera, it's here.

And Portable IE7, though I believe you need IE6 installed, which isn't very portable at all, but it's here.

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet

Pick a browser. Delete it when you're done with it.

No one's forcing you to run IE, even if you don't have root privileges.

Netscape Communicator died for a reason. It was a slow, bloated...

Ironically, this is exactly why I recently dropped Firefox and went BACK. While Seamonkey has a larger memory footprint than Firefox on initial load, it doesn't leak memory like a sieve... after a hour's use on my machine, it's still under 100MB whereas Firefox takes up 300+MB (both using essentially the same list of plugins). Also, Seamonkey's start-up time is a FRACTION of either Firefox's or Thunderbird's.

Firefox has completely forgotten it's original mission statement, and fallen victim to scope creep and just all-around code bloat. If these are reasons that had you switching 5 years ago, it might be worth taking another look and running another side-by-side comparison of the two browsers and the paths they've taken. In addition to the regular install, you could play with a clean portable version as well.