 | By Mark Joseph Edwards Version 3 of Symantec’s Norton 360 security software includes a new “Safe Web” feature that competes directly with McAfee’s SiteAdvisor. But are Safe Web’s real-time checks of the sites you’re visiting any more effective than SiteAdvisor’s database approach? |
Security application improves its usability
In the Feb. 26 Top Story, Ryan Russell wrote about Symantec’s Norton Internet Security 2009, which several leading tech publications currently rate as the best overall security suite. At the same time, Ryan noted the pain that a lot of users have experienced when installing, using, and uninstalling Symantec’s security software.
I’ve also heard many complaints about the product. Most relate to its software bloat, resource hogging, and disk-space requirements. Apparently, Symantec has been listening. Last week, the company released Norton 360 version 3, which brings several improvements, according to a tour at Symantec’s site.
When I spoke recently with Symantec representatives about the product, I learned that version 3 can be installed in less than one minute and uses less than 10MB of RAM when the software is idle. The new release also requires only about 110MB of hard-disk space. These are all improvements over the previous release.
Among the program’s new features are the ability to block botnets and a tool that helps you disable startup programs. Norton 360 v3 boots and runs faster, updates signatures more frequently (every 5 to 15 minutes), and uses fewer CPU cycles when idle.
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