What are your favourite apps? - Tris Hussey

Google Chrome and web apps. I run XMind and Evernote as desktop apps on a USB key. - Steve Rubel from email

I agree more than ever, despite my Mac OS X preference. - Louis Gray

Much agreed on the OS agnosticism here (esp with a locked-down work laptop). Is FreeSMUG (http://www.freesmug.org/portabl...) pretty much the best analog to PortableApps? - Sam Harrelson

I'm good as long as there's a remote desktop app. I could work on an OLPC - Rodfather

I can't get away from the graphics/video/design production apps. Still need a PC to run most of those. Cloud is out a bit further for workflows involving these. - SolidSmack

@Louis I am on a PC at work for the first time in five years - and a desktop too. I requested one. That's a first time for me ever (I have been on notebooks since 1995). At home I use a Mac and on the road I do too. In between I use my iPhone. It's liberating not having to carry a notebook, even one that's just 3lbs. - Steve Rubel from email

Chris - re: your comment on MS/standard/ActiveX, I think it's the other way around. For general consumers, they are more likely to avoid sites that display content in ways they can't access it - as opposed to changing their browser to meet the demands of those sites. Granted that won't be the case for business users, but I think that sites that attempt to force users into adopting a specific browser will just be further marginalized. - Jim Tierney

Holden, definitely. Run Chrome on a stick and Evernote. - Steve Rubel from email

omg rubel you = straight P-I-M-P - sean percival

The most portant question is still, what do you do if you are without web access? - Robert Hafer from iPhone

@Robert It's very hard for me to be without web access (and access to the apps and data I need/use) with an iPhone. - Sam Harrelson

Nope, no tethering. I'm even leaving my laptop behind when I travel for conferences (which is amazing). Basically, the iPhone has become my primary computing device and my various laptops are entry points (I'm a Middle School teacher, so on-the-go mobile is incredibly impt for me). Wrote about the apps etc I use here: http://bit.ly/YImRr - Sam Harrelson from IM

@Chris, I keep a copy of Portable Firefox for Mac on the same USB drive. Otherwise, I just run their instance of Safari in private mode and I am good to go - or I use my iPhone. - Steve Rubel

@Robert - simple, use USB drive apps or my iPhone. - Steve Rubel

@Sam, my iPhone is slowly becoming my primary computer. If it starts connecting to full size monitors and keyboards, lookout. - Steve Rubel

Followup @Sam <http://friendfeed.com/steveru...> here [http://ff.im/5wPuN] - ianf ⌘

I still can't find a descent inventory app for my iPhone. The wine cellar at work is wireless opaque, so I can't update numbers to a web app. The ones that call themselves inventory apps are just 'list of stuff I own apps'. I tried Bento but it doesn't do running totals (that i can figure out) on the iPhone version. - Robert Hafer

If you're into netbooks, you might like to give Jolicloud a try. I'm just about to install it on my Asus EeePC 701. - Dan Monsieurle

@dan Jollicloud is available? Thought it was only via OEMs. - Steve Rubel from email

Nope they are giving out a 1000 accounts a day right now, starting to really get out there. I have it on my asus eeepc, pretty slick OS. - sean percival

I don't understand how people get Much done without fundamental UI tools like drag and drop, and newer innovations like Quicksilver/LaunchBar, etc. Web apps are great for some specific tasks, but after that a powerful OS with software that can dig in deep to shared resources is killer. - David Chartier from iPhone

OS still matters to me as the cloud has to run on an OS... can't escape it - Bwana ☠

@David, my needs are limited. With the exception of PowerPoint and mindmapping apps, I can do what I need in a browser 100%. - Steve Rubel from email

Steve, just out of curiosity, do you know http://280slides.com/ ? - Meryn Stol

@Meryn, I do - but many decks I create are confidential, so I use PPT. - Steve Rubel

@Luke sure I worry about security but I am very choosy about where I store data. Business info, for example, is on Edelman servers. - Steve Rubel

Music and multimedia is an open question, isn't it. - Steve Rubel from email

Music wise, I keep a few of my "desert island" albums on Dropbox and the iPhone. All of my other music consumption is via Pandora, Last.FM, AOL Radio and numerous podcasts that I download via the iPhone. I do have one laptop that I use as a syncing station for my iPhone but it's become just a place to grab backups which I then upload immediately to Dropbox. - Sam Harrelson

Definitely can't say the same for myself - LANjackal

You can upload all your music to the cloud too, and not have to lug it around. (try lala.com) - April

I tried running portable firefox when using a shared PC at work, but found it painfully slow via the USB drive. - Jonathan

I wonder if you use photoshop or do some programming. Probably the all cloud solution is not indicated yet for these tasks. - funkyboy

@funkyboy : why not? intellectual property or industrail property matters could, will rise. So what? Clouds will just get mature enough to help businesses. For now, I'd say that The Clouds are still in their early years. If somehow, part of the CPU implied in the many daily compilations of larges set of code, or implementation of any sort if real continuous integration process, if somehow some part of that CPU could be saved from server machines dedicated to that, that would be those costs saved.To start. - Zackatoustra from IM

I am switching machines & OSes every other week. All I see is Firefox Tabs. It is available in every platform and now that Weave is being developed. I don't need to export my current working tabs to my home/back to work. - karthick

@funkyboy Have you ever heard of SUMO Paint? While it isn't quite Photoshop yet, it does show that the old excuse of not being able to do stuff like that in the cloud won't live much longer. http://www.sumo.fi/web/ - April

@funkyboy and @April Russo - also check out pixlr: http://pixlr.com/editor/ - it''s pretty freakin sweet for an online app - Bill Rawlinson

What are you doing to back up your cloud in case it dissipates? - David Libby

@David everything I do is backed up in multiple places. - Steve Rubel

Sounds like a business opportunity to me, Steve. In all seriousness, I think if it required fewer steps (backup, different web apps, numerous logins, memory stick, etc.), it could be a very viable option for many people. There needs to be an uber web service that does all of that for you with a few clicks. A personal Network Admin. Oh wait...Google...could that be you I hear at my door? :-) - Michael Chin