Bob Plester, by email
Installed applications, as the name implies, are the programs loaded onto your PC and launched by clicking on a shortcut icon on your desktop or Start menu, or by tapping a tile on the W8 Metro screen. In other words these program have been integrated with your computer and their configuration settings and preferences are stored on the hard drive. This usually means they perform better and can more easily use or interact with other software components on your computer. Portable applications run directly from the media that they are stored on. This can be a USB stick, memory card, CD/DVD, external drive and so on. They tend not to launch or run as fast as the equivalent installed program and may use more memory. On the plus side they generally make no changes to the host PC, unless required to do so, and they do not have to be uninstalled, nor should they leave anything behind when you exit the program. In theory this means you could carry an entire PC around with you, on a memory stick, with all of your favourite programs, and that includes the operating system, as well as an office suite, media player, browsers, email program, and so on. Simply pop it into a friend’s PC and they will not have to worry about you interfering with or damaging their computer, though convincing them that it is entirely safe and secure is another matter.
Source : pcworld
