MojoPac solves a real mobile need

Michael Gartenberg | November 08, 2006, 11:14 AM

One of the great benefits of going mobile is access to all your information when you need it, but sometimes a laptop is too much to carry, especially if there are other devices you can use at your destination. Enter, the USB Flash drive and portable hard drives that allow you to carry just about all your data when you need to. There are even great programs to keep all that data in sync, such as Migo. But what if the computer you want to use doesn't have the proper applications installed? Enter MojoPac from the good folks at RingCube. This innovative software lets you use any storage device, from flash memory to iPods to install and take with you just about any Windows XP application you can imagine. No more looking for the right app in a public setting. I've been using it with a variety of devices and it works and works well. When you set it up and launch, you get a new Windows XP desktop that you can install just about any Windows App including things like Firefox, Skype and Office. In the first version, there are a few glitches, notably Office 2003 won't install using the retail version (enterprise version works just fine and there's a promised update to fix that glitch this month). Applications launch quickly and things like browser settings and the like are maintained. When you quit, all traces of your activity go with you. What happens in MojoPac, stays in MojoPac.

What's missing? Well, there's no file sync, while you can copy your files over, there's no sync to keep everything up to date. I found that using a combination of MojoPac and either Migo or Microsoft's excellent sync toy work well together. Also, there's no Mac support yet, which would make it even more useful. Overall, this is a great mobile utility that allows you to take your apps on the road, no need for special drives or special apps. Highly recommended.