The term 'app' is widely (mis)used today to broadly cover all types of programs.
Traditional Windows programs are technically known as 'Desktop Windows Applications', or 'Win32 applications' because they use the Win32 API to communicate with the system. Windows 8 introduced a whole different way for programs to interact with the OS called Windows Runtime. These were the Store Apps that first appeared in W8 and made the name 'app' commonplace. Windows Runtime was superseded by the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) in Windows 10 and which all Store Apps now use.
Microsoft had wanted to make UWP the primary form of 'programming' going forwards, but it never really took off as they would have liked. Win32 apps (programs) are still alive and well, even it we refer to them as 'apps' these days
Portable Apps are Win32 applications that do not need to be installed. They can even be run from a USB stick, making them truly portable in ever sense. That's either because they use their own .ini file to save the settings rather than the registry, or (like LibreOffice Portable) they have been packaged using the PortableApps.com Platform which maintains a copy of all the registry settings they would otherwise have had created for them by the installer.
Portable versions | LibreOffice - Free and private office suite - Based on OpenOffice - Compatible with Microsoft
Portable LibreOffice versions
Google for your favourite free software adding the search term 'portable' and you'll almost certainly find there's a portable version of it on PortableApps.com.
My Computers
System One System Two
-
- OS
- Windows 11 Home
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
- CPU
- AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
- Memory
- 8GB
- Graphics Card(s)
- Radeon Graphics
- Monitor(s) Displays
- laptop screen
- Screen Resolution
- 1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
- Hard Drives
- 1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
- Internet Speed
- 150 Mbps
- Browser
- Edge, Firefox
- Antivirus
- Defender
- Other Info
- fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
-
- Operating System
- Windows 11 Pro
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Dell Latitude E4310
- CPU
- Intel® Core™ i5-520M
- Motherboard
- 0T6M8G
- Memory
- 8GB
- Graphics card(s)
- (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
- Screen Resolution
- 1366x768
- Hard Drives
- 500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
- Browser
- Firefox, Edge
- Antivirus
- Defender
- Other Info
- unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
Feeling a bit silly not to have realized it before now, guess it shows what a greenhorn I am, lol. I think the Wordpad files were acting as I described because I had renamed the folder that the files were in (while the files were still open on the taskbar). I forgot I had done that just before I started noticing the behavioural change with the files. 
