Norton 360 - Protect and Maintain Up to Three PCs

Note that a review of the most recent version of Norton 360 can be found here.

Norton, a brand owned by Symantec, has been a household name in PC security ever since, well, since household names in PC security became part of our lexicon. As the types of threats facing home computer users have evolved, Symantec and other security software vendors have struggled to keep up. What was once a standalone antivirus product grew into a security suite often containing antivirus, personal firewall, anti-spyware, anti-spam, and other security technologies.

When Microsoft jumped into the fray and released Windows Live OneCare, it established a new direction for security suites. Microsoft’s approach was a more holistic one aimed at protecting and maintaining all of the computers in a household. Its product came with licenses for three machines and provided features to clean and maintain the PC itself, not just protect it from security threats. Norton 360 is Symantec’s answer to Windows Live OneCare. It also comes licensed for up to three machines and provides additional features beyond the core security functionality.

Norton 360 can be installed on virtually any version of Windows XP or Windows Vista. There are additional requirements for some features. For example, the phishing protection requires that you be using at least Internet Explorer 6, and the online backup feature requires a high-speed broadband connection. With a hard drive requirement of only 300 MB, the software takes up relatively little hard drive space.

The user interface for Norton 360 borders on perfect. It is as clean and as simple as you can imagine, yet informative and intuitive at the same time. On the display, there are four very large circles representing the four main functions of the software [5-MainConsole.jpg]. Each one is clearly labeled and has an icon at the top that represents the status of that area. For example, a green check mark means everything is good, a yellow exclamation point means there are some areas of concern, and a red "X" means that there are issues that must be addressed. The combination of the icons (check mark, exclamation point, and "X") with the colors (green, yellow, and red) help you quickly understand the status of the software.

A product that is designed to provide comprehensive, all-in-one protection for your computer while also boosting your ability to maintain the system and maximize performance is bound to have a lot of features. In Norton 360, Symantec has rolled up some of the standard security components such as antivirus, anti-spyware, and a personal firewall, but they didn’t stop there.

I have heard people complain about security products, specifically antivirus software and personal firewalls, hogging system resources and bogging down the system. I have had friends and family uninstall their security products and leave their systems vulnerable rather than suffering through the slow response of their computers while running security software.

• Include features for securing wireless networks like those found in the Norton Internet Security Suite product.
• Beef up PC maintenance utilities to more closely match those available in the standalone Norton SystemWorks.
• Add a "vault" or secured storage function to let users store passwords, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information.