Quote:
Originally Posted by K. Molen
Any modern OS I'm familiar with use multiple files for programs. What do you use that doesn't?
|
Some of the RAM-resident linux distros like
Puppy (~110MB!) and
Tiny Core (11-60MB!) store the OS and standard apps in a single, bootable .iso file. Additional software packages are kept in individual files (ie, one file per application). Changes like documents and settings live in a combined user userspace savefile if you want to save state. It's not a solution for everyone's taste but they are very lightweight and fast. These functional and free OSes run in less RAM (and can load faster) than, say, Word.
There may be other examples of this kind of approach but I do not have personal experience with them.
The PortableApps approach seems to help keep Windoze app installs from flinging their stuff quite so far. I keep Portable firefox, putty, vlc, etc, (and usb bootable Puppy linux described above) on my keyfob USB.