You're in the boardroom. You're in classroom. You're in the dorm. You're on the go! There's no getting around it; we're increasingly becoming a more mobile society; all of the while staying tethered to technology in some capacity. According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the ratio of laptop PC sales to desktop PC sales is expected to continue to widen this year with 63 percent of the computers sold in 2009 expected to be laptops. Whether you are carrying a laptop or a netbook the running theme is "mobile technology".

One key gadget to help you stay connected is the ubiquitous USB drive. How can the USB help you out? Well, the easiest thing to do is load one up with some mobile applications. There are literally dozens of free applications available, but I'd like to focus on two all inclusive options that I think could benefit anyone with a PC or Mac.

The great thing about portable apps is that they run directly from the USB drive, and don't need to be installed on the computer you wish to run them from. This is ideal if you're in a computer lab, hotel business center, internet café, library, or on any shared computer.

In addition, most portable apps are designed to have "no trace left behind" so the next person to use the "host" system has no access to your data, cookies shortcuts, favorites, and can't tell what applications you ran when using the system... this makes it a more secure solution.

Let's take a look:

PortableApps.com Suite and PortableApps.com Platform

PortableApps.com Suite^TM is a complete collection of portable apps including a web browser, email client, office suite, calendar/scheduler, instant messaging client, antivirus, audio player, Sudoku game, password manager, PDF reader, minesweeper clone, backup utility and integrated menu, all preconfigured to work portably. Just drop it on your portable device and you're ready to go.

Included Applications:

All versions of the PortableApps.com Suite include the integrated PortableApps.com Menu and the PortableApps.com Backup utility along with a set of custom icons, an Auto-play configuration, folders and a quick start shortcut. In addition, the packages include:

• Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition (web browser)
• Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition (email)
• Mozilla Sunbird, Portable Edition (calendar/tasks)
• ClamWin Portable (antivirus)
• Pidgin Portable (instant messaging)
• Sumatra PDF Portable (PDF reader
• KeePass Password Safe Portable (password manager)
• Sudoku Portable (game)
• Mines-Perfect Portable (game)
• CoolPlayer+ Portable (audio player)
• OpenOffice.org Portable* (office suite)
       - Writer (word processor)
       - Calc (spreadsheet)
       - Impress (presentations)
       - Base (database utility)
       - Draw (drawing)

Click here to download: http://portableapps.com/download

For you Mac OSX users, there is the OpenOffice solution. OpenOffice.org 3 contains all the office software you need in one single package. You don't have to worry about which version to install: one installation program provides everything. The installation also includes features which some expensive rivals do not. For example, the ability to create .pdf files when you want to guarantee what the recipient sees on their computer. There is also a growing range of extensions: additional features that any developer can provide. word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing package and database - packaged as a portable app, so you can take all your documents and everything you need with you.

Portable OpenOffice.org OS X is the complete OpenOffice.org office suite - word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing package and database - packaged as portable application so you can carry it around with you on any portable device, USB thumb drive, iPod, portable hard drive, memory card, other portable device (also on your internal hard disk) as long as it has 430 MB of free space and use on any Mac OS X computer, taking all your documents and everything you need with you. 

Click here to download a version of OpenOffice: