Well, some mods need to be in a specific file with the core game so they have access to it's information. I think the Technic pack might not, because I figure it has it's own version of the game files included. I just put the technic launcher file on my desktop, where my Minecraft executable is, figuring that might work for both options.
Edit: Also, many people say to use the .jar file. How exactly do I do that? I can't open it by default, just unpack it with 7-zip, but then there's nothing to run inside.