I found this really neat web site. http://portableapps.com/
It contains free and open source applications, including OpenOffice, Firefox, ClamWin, NVU, The Gimp and quite a few others that have been configured to run as "stand alone", i.e., you don't have to "install" them so they run from your USB thumb drive. I haven't played with it much, but so far I really like what I have seen. Essentially this lets you carry around your own "personal" Windows programs configured just as you like them but can run them on any Windows computer. It also looks like that other operating systems will be supported in the future. Ed Richards
