Will we one day run our most important software off a USB key?
A hint of the future at Seaside, who makes a product called "Xkey: Exchange to Go." Paraphrasing:
Xkey securely stores your Exchange data and the application logic to execute it -- on a USB key. With Xkey, you load your Exchange data on any USB-equipped PC, and then run it online/offline through a Web browser -- without any software installation or configuration. The 128MB version is US$179, while the 256MB is $249.
What other features would be useful for software running on a USB key? How about a 4-line text display... fingerprint identification...
Great idea. I've been looking for a solution like this for sometime. However it looks like they are just running Outlook Web Access off a jumpdrive. The $299 price tag seems a bit high.
Posted by: Sean Dotson | Feb 19, 2004 at 06:35 AM
This topic got me looking. I found this application http://www.pocomailpe.com/ in my search. While it does not sync with Outlook (they do have some tools to import contacts and messages however) I have been using it for the last day with great results. It is useful for checking my personal email from work as opposed to using a web-based email client.
Posted by: Sean Dotson | Feb 20, 2004 at 07:01 AM
For a tiny, free USB Key POP3/SMTP mail client have a look at nPOPQ. It's a bit rough round the edges and I wouldn't use it as a primary mail client, but it only takes just over 200KB of key space and is ideal for quickly checking multiple mailboxes wherever you are:
http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA003011/#nPOPQ
Also, the original nPOP:
http://nakka.com/soft/npop/index_eng.html
Posted by: Huw | Feb 26, 2004 at 10:11 PM
I have evaluated the Pocomail PE solution and have found it to be quite nice. For the cost, I would say that the nPOPQ solution mentioned above is well worth it and I plan to start using it instead. Yes, it would be nice to be able to import a list of email addresses or even the full address book though. I would wonder who in God's green earth would want to spend $299 when they can accomplish the exact same thing retrieving email with either a free (and lightweight) client or a $40 solution???
Posted by: Enrique Arroyave | Mar 05, 2004 at 05:19 PM
A nice, tiny, free, password manager that runs from a USB Key:
http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net/
Has anyone found a site that lists software that works from a USB Key?
Posted by: Huw | Apr 28, 2004 at 01:45 AM
Check out activedisk from IOMEGA.com. It does all you ask.
Anon.
Posted by: anon | May 04, 2004 at 10:02 AM