For some time i have been using a portable environment - programs and data reside on my USB stick and when i have to go to a windows machine i at least have the programs i want (firefox, gimp, open office etc) with the preferences i prefer and the data i use. I use a fast 8 gig stick for small stuff and a 80gig portable device for large jobs like web/database work. The programs all run without being installed. The portable apps environment I have been using in class is only for windows but the FreeSMUG (the free software mac users group) page now has a portable apps environment and downloads for osx. The page is at: http://www.freesmug.org/portableapps I'll try this out and see how it compares. --- MUGLO information at <http://www.freewebs.com/muglo> Manage your account options at <//www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/lsg2.cgi>