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I don’t like bloated software. I understand why some developers go the route of adware but I don’t install or use advertisement-supported software because of the additional resources they consume and the distractions they create.

There are three pieces of software that you’ll find on many Windows PCs.  They are AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), QuickTime and RealPlayer . 

AIM is an ad-supported software client that’s been around for over 10 years and is by far the most popular program and protocol for instant messaging.

QuickTime is video playback software from Apple that plays many popular formats including the proprietary QuickTime Movie (.mov) format.  If you have an Apple iPod and use iTunes, you had no choice but to also install QuickTime.

RealPlayer is far less popular than AIM and QuickTime but is on many PCs nevertheless.  RealPlayer is also used for playback of many popular video formats and proprietary RealVideo and RealAudio with and without DRM.

I don’t like AIM because it pops ads on the screen and I don’t like QuickTime and RealPlayer because they run background processes on PC startup.

Recently I’ve come across three less known alternatives to abovementioned trio.  They eliminate some annoyances associated with using the originals.  They are:

1. AIM Ad Hack software is a hack of the official AIM client that removes advertising from it.  If you need to use the AOL Instant Messaging network, there are many 3rd party alternative clients you can use.  If, for whatever reason, you want to use AIM, this version at least removes the ads.

2. QuickTime Alternative, recently renamed QT-Lite but apparently still in existence with its original name gets its codecs from Apple’s QuickTime and is a workable substitute for it.

3. Real Alternative as the name implies replaces RealPlayer.  You no longer need to fill-out and send forms and like QuickTime Alternative, no background processes.

Editor’s Note: I am not clear on the legality of these three alternatives since they use parts of or based on hacks of the originals.

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I like to use portable applications as much as possible. However, not every software application I need is portable. Virtualization software comes in handy for not only making your applications portable but also taking your heavily customized Windows Desktop and operation environment with you everywhere you go on a portable storage device instead of carrying a notebook PC.

MojoPac from RingCube Technologies is nice virtualization tool that is more portable than VMWare server and workstation. Both VMWare products are better fit for test and development environments giving you control over networking the virtualized desktop(s) and snapshot rollbacks. MojoPac turns your portable drive or USB key into a personal Windows desktop that does not require another Windows license and is much more compact.

RingCube Technologies recently announced the availability of MojoPac Freedom, a free version of MojoPac. Now users can carry their applications, Windows configuration settings and data files on a portable USB device that can be used from any PC.

I have recently put MojoPac Freedom to the test and was able to install several applications that ran flawlessly from different PCs. I did however have trouble installing the .net framework and applications that rely on it. Some users reported similar issues in the MojoPac Forums but I did not find a solution that worked for me. Nevertheless, MojoPac Freedom will probably remain on my portable drive for some time to come as it is a handy virtualization tool. Try it!