winPenPack Flash School 3.5.2

CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: CNET Staff

This collection of more than 50 useful freeware and shareware programs geared toward students runs seamlessly on a USB drive. Patience is required during the slow download, but the programs install easily and quickly. A bonus is the handy tray icon pop-up menu. The programs are grouped in eight broad categories: computer, geometry, graphics and drawing, languages and translators, mathematics, music, science, and utilities. This isn't a suite with common interfaces or manuals. The programs require different experience and knowledge levels, but most high school and college students won't have any problems operating these apps.

WinPenPack Flash School lacks a portable browser, but since the installed collection takes up just over 700MB, there is plenty of room to add one. Unfortunately, users can't add or remove programs from the Start list. There is also no easy method to uninstall some apps for space. Most of the applications are the most recent versions. Any updates must be done inside the individual applications.

There is little fluff in this collection. That doesn't mean any user will access all programs daily, but the less-often used will come in handy for math, music, and science students. There are sure to be students who occasionally need an onscreen metronome or a basic CAD program.

It's as easy to install the collection to a hard-drive directory as an USB drive. While it isn't the perfect collection for students, WinPenPack Flash School is a very good start.

Publisher's description

From WinPenPack :

winPenPack Flash School is an applications environment of open source educational softwares, modified for being run and used from an USB pendrive, without need of installation. It is a really self-contained environment, within programs, .xml and config files, documents are homogeneously integrated. Portable softwares included into winPenPack does not need to be installed, does not write their settings into host PC, and can be easily carried between multiple computers through any external device, as removable hard disks or USB pendrives.

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