Most companies and educational institutes have strict IT policies. You normally do not get administrative rights for your work PC. If you need to install any software which is not approved by your IT department, you have to either go friendly with that admin guy or do some hacking yourself. I have observed that IE is the default browser in most companies and they do not allow you to run Firefox. What a shame?
One way to work around this problem is to use the portable apps. While the intention of portable apps is to allow you to carry essential software on the go (typically using a USB key), you can also use these to install software on your PC even if you do not have administrator rights. Just select any folder of your choice on the PC while installing. Portable apps now have a rich collection of software including openoffice and mozilla suite. Of interest for most people could be Firefox, Thunderbird and Pidgin. There is Gimp too, in case you are interested.
So go ahead and fool those admin guys in your company.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Prakash G.R. 07.07.08 at 11:20 pm
If only the companies allow USB keys
jaganath 07.08.08 at 8:03 am
@Prakash
You can install these software in any folder on your PC. You don’t need to use a USB key. While installing, just point to a local folder.