Portable Apps vs Web 2.0

Working in the office, at home and (occasionally) on the road what is the best way to keep all the documents accessible?

The Web 2.0 Way

Tools like zoho and google apps look very interesting offering online storage as well as an online editor that is the same wherever you access it.

Pro

  • common interface
  • up-to-date documents safely stored online
    • zoho can sync local word docs with the online account
  • nothing to install

Con

  • needs an internet connection (not always available on the road or even at home 🙁 )
  • limited customisation of the interface (and I have years of MSWord tweaks that I use every day)
  • how safe is their online storage
  • when will these services become pay-as-u-go?

The Portable Apps Way

PortableApps allows you to have a complete suite of applications on a usb stick so you can have your environment wherever you plug in the stick. You can also save files on the stick.

Pro

  • common interface
  • always accessible
  • nothing to install
  • can customise the apps to your needs

Con

  • what if you loose the stick
    • portableapps has a backup solution and others are available for backup and synchronisation
    • with the right online filestorage this would allow for sync-ing with remote filestore
  • what if you don’t have the stick with you
    • see above!

And the winner is

For my purposes it seems that PortableApps would be the most robust solution as long as I can get the backup process working successfully.