Why aren't more companies creating portable versions of Windows software?

Lately, I've been using portable Windows software more and more. It's so much more convenient. For example, after you've configured the software to your liking, you can just copy the folder to a USB stick, and everything gets saved along with the configuration. Another advantage is that every file that belongs to that program is in the same folder. And there is no hassle when uninstalling (because there is no reason to uninstall). There are just so many advantages.

I used to think that companies had no other choice than to create programs in a way that requires installation. But with so many portable programs becoming available, it's obvious that they can just build the software portable. Yet, they continue to build software that needs to be installed, to work.

 

More and more freeware programs for windows are becoming portable just
take a look at www.freewarefiles.com

 

Thanks for the link. Also, for anyone who's reading this, there's a large collection of portable apps at www.portableapps.com and most of them are free.

There are also some programs on the internet that allow you to create portable versions of any program you want. The way they convert the software to a portable version is that they look at the registry before you install the program, and also afterward. Then they look at what has been changed in the registry and try to determine which additional files have to include in the portable program's folder. But I haven't used any such programs, so I don't know how well they work.

 

Well it seems like @something back pointed out that more and more are starting to come out, but it is a valid question and something that I am sure many people asked. Especially when you consider all of the mobile versions of Android and Apple products, it would just seem to fall in line that Windows would be right there, but I guess not. It seems like they are catching up, though.