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 Windows Runtime was superseded by the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) in Windows 10 and which all Store Apps now use.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.
Alternative installation methods, SDK and source code — LibreOffice
Instructions for various ways of installing LibreOffice as well as for acquiring its Software Development Kit and source code.
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
-
At a glance
Windows 11 HomeAMD Athlon Silver 3050U8GBRadeon Graphics- OS
- Windows 11 Home
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R9VY
- 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 (from April 2026: 250GB EVO 850)
- Internet Speed
- 150 Mbps
- Browser
- Edge, Firefox
- Antivirus
- Defender
- Other Info
- UPDATE - 11 April 2026: due to lid hinges starting to break up this laptop has been retired from active duty. The OS with all software and files has been migrated to my System Seven in 'Other systems' to carry on as my general purpose 'main machine'.
I've now clean installed 25H2 and used Garlin's scripts to update Secure Boot to CA 2023 and revoke the PCA 2011 certificates. It's new role is to test secure boot issues.
Info for 2021-2026:
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, 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2, and 25H2 on 30th September 2025 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 25H2.
-
At a glance
Windows 11 ProIntel® Core™ i5-520M8GB(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics- 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.
Upgraded to 25H2 by Enablement Package.
Also running Insider Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds and Windows 10 as native boot .vhdx.
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My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR was a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e (1st gen) type 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device. This has now been sold. It has been replaced by my System Eight.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 1TB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Experimental 263xx and 29xxx 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, Hyper-V host machine. Updated to 25H2 on 30th September 2025.
My SYSTEM SEVEN is a Lenovo Thinkpad T580, 1920x1080 touchscreen, Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 2nd 512GB NVMe SSD, a supported device for Windows 11. This is my current general purpose 'main machine'. The installed Windows 11 Home from my System One has been migrated to this machine. As its new home has an existing digital licence for Pro I've been able to upgrade the migrated OS from Home to Pro.
My SYSTEM EIGHT is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e (5th gen) type 20LN, Celeron N4120, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, a supported device for Windows 11. Currently running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds as native boot vhdx.
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. 
