Symantec Launches (Debloated?) 2009 Products

Symantec Launches (Debloated?) 2009 Products

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - by Michael Santo
In July, Symantec opened its 2009 security products to public beta, promising that they would no longer be the performance hogs they have been in the past. You may know that Symantec's latest versions of their security products have been criticized over their memory footprint and CPU usage.

Of course, there's also the activation issue (the software must be activated), but that's another point of contention.

So this year Symantec focused on speed and resources, calling it a "zero-impact" performance goal. And on Tuesday Symantec announced the launch of its 2009 line, highlighting the following bullet points in a press release:
  • Light on Resources: As we said this is one of the biggest complaints about Symantec's latest versions of its security products. Symantec says the new version "includes hundreds of performance enhancements." According to Symantec's own tests, NIS 2009 installs in just 52 seconds and requires just 7 Mbytes of host memory.
  • Comprehensive Protection: There's never been much argument here. Norton security products have traditionally scored high, though not always highest, in anti-malware tests.
  • New Usability Enhancements
  • Free Technical Support: Now, free technical support, that we can get behind --- phone, email, or online, it's now free for a year.
Pricing? For Norton 360 it's $79.99 (up to 3 PCs), Norton Internet Security 2009 is $69.99 (up to 3 PCs) and Norton AntiVirus 2009 is $39.99. All those include the typical one-year service subscription for updates and product usage.

Currently the release only covers U.S. customers; Local-language versions for European countries should be on shelves by the end of this month.
Via: Symantec | News Archive | Tags: Antec, 2009, launch, Pro, Symantec, 200
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Comments

By bob_on_the_cob on Sep 10, 2008

Well now that's a step in the right direction!

By recoveringknowitall on Sep 10, 2008

Nice to hear, especially since I'm already satisfied with their solutions more or less.

By warlord on Sep 10, 2008

I'm a skeptic about it to tell ya the truth...after a decade of watch there product fail at its most basic functions, i will have to see for my self how it works...from a customers pc...not 1 of mine

By Der Meister on Sep 10, 2008

I love 360 on my PC

By mazuki on Sep 12, 2008

i've tried the v2009 already, and i saw nothing improved, especially on boot-times, they are horrid.

By recoveringknowitall on Sep 12, 2008

When I read pplz negative comments about Symantec software I always wonder why I've never had any problems with it... and believe me when I tell you: I'm very critical and pick things apart like crazy and also very sensitive to noticing performance issues, functionality and all the little details.

Go figure. I suppose it could be that I'm not a very dynamic user compared to some others.

BTW: To my knowledge, I've only ever gotten 2 viruses over 7 PCs in about 15 years... honestly! 1 of which I got due to surfing the net on a fresh install prior to installing any protection.

BTW2: Now that I think about it I guess my boot time is kinda sucky. :(

XP-breakdown from powering on: 12 sec. till bios splash screen, 25 sec. till loading bar(7-8 passes... meh), 50 sec. till welcome screen(no password), 72 sec. till desktop(fully ready to use).

Shutdown takes only 10 sec. though from the time I press the button.

By bob_on_the_cob on Sep 12, 2008

It's not that I'm trying to just be critical of Symantic. I think if they are working on improving speed that's great. I sure it will bite me one day, but I just don't like running virus software. The only thing that starts up when windows starts up is steam and daemon tools.

By recoveringknowitall on Sep 12, 2008

I'd rather be safe than sorry since I'm very into finding new sites... ones that I find on my own with having anyone recommend them or verify that they are safe. That type of surfing sorta requires a good AV IMO.

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