Portable Appetizer

Launching video games, web pages, or programs can be done in quite the variety of ways simply through Windows default configurations. On the other hand, possibilities extend when using dedicated third-party applications like Portable Appetizer, which can also be used as autorun menus for removable media drives.

As the name clearly points out, this is the edition of Appetizer you don’t have to install on your computer to function, which means it can be used just as well from a thumb drive on other computers as well. Another advantage of portability is that system registries remain intact, thus not having an impact on the stability of the target PC.

The first time the application is launched, you’re directly taken to the shortcuts import manager. It helps you automatically organize your current shortcuts from different locations like the portable apps folder, quick launch toolbar, Start Menu items, or from a custom folder you select using a common browse dialog.

A cool panel shows up on your desktop after importing shortcuts. You can resize the panel into a horizontal, or vertical line, with a smart resize option which doesn’t create any empty space, but only stretches to include all items. On the other hand, it can be made smaller, with a scrollbar letting you navigate through all items.

Adding new items is simply done through drag and drop, but you can also use dedicated browse dialogs, or the import manager again. The panel can be set to run with Windows, and even installed and configured as an autorun option for thumb drives, and other removable media. It can auto hide when not needed, or right after a shortcut is launched, with the possibility to assign a hotkey to toggle visibility.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Portable Appetizer is a powerful launcher which is sure to blend in any environment. Although there aren’t many customization options at your disposal, it’s intuitive, visually appealing, and is sure to help you keep the desktop a clean space.