It’s not science fiction. Imagining that we’ll be able to access our favorite programs without installing them is possible. And it’s all thanks to Zero Install. Not only will it help us with this entire process, but it’s also a free and open-source program. Directly from its catalog, we’ll be able to see a good assortment of applications so we can have them without taking up space on our hard drive.
The best thing is that it works for Windows, Linux, and macOS. And regardless of your technical level, it’ll work just as well. To give you an idea of what applications it has, you’ll be able to use VLC, GIMP, or LibreOffice without having to install them on your hard drive. Plus, it has a caching tool so applications run on the fly. Let’s take a closer look at what Zero Install has to offer.
What is Zero Install
Zero Install is a platform that allows us to run programs directly from its own catalog. This means we won’t have to install any of those programs on our PC. Your hard drive will thank you for it.
When we open Zero Install, a catalog of applications appears. In this case, just click on the one you want to use and click “Run.” There’s no further science or research involved. It’s completely effortless. Plus, Zero Install itself uses its own cache, which means accessing these programs will be a breeze in the future.
Its advantages are obvious, but let’s break them down further:
- Portability. You can store the program on a USB drive and use it on multiple computers without any hassle. So you can use your favorite apps almost anywhere.
- Security. Since we won’t need to install anything, the risk of modifying system files disappears, as does the risk of installing malware.
- Automatic updates. Obviously, the entire software update process falls on Zero Install. This means you won’t have to worry about doing it manually.
- Compatibility with multiple operating systems. As we’ve already mentioned, ZI is compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS. So, no matter what operating system you’re using, you’ll be able to use it.
We may confuse the Zero Install service with similar applications like PortableApps. In this case, PortableApps itself requires you to download and install portable applications. But in the case of ZI, we’re talking about a kind of “Netflix” of applications, where everything works online without any downloads.
Featured Apps from the Zero Install Catalog
- CDBurnerXP: to burn CDs and DVDs.
- VLC Player: The Best Media Player
- DOSBox: The DOS emulator for running games and applications.
- GIMP: The open source image editor.
- Blender: 3D creation for modeling, animation, and rendering.
- LibreOffice.
- VirtualDub: video capture and processing.
- PuTTY.
Aside from these, it’s worth mentioning that Zero Install currently has over 120 applications in total, including developer tools like Python, Java, and Ruby.
