Anti-virus software maker Symantec unveiled its Norton 2009 anti-virus software packages to a packed auditorium, in Madrid, Spain, this week.
Initial claims are that the software will install in less than a minute, with only a single click, while performance has also been improved.
Rowan Trollope, senior VP, consumer business, said Symantec did a survey among its users.
"What is it about your security products?" he said. "Why are you switching security products or getting rid of your security products? And the answer was a resounding: 'Security products are too slow`," he explained.
Norton 2009 claims improved application performance, in file-scan and start-up performance, along with a smaller memory footprint and decreased processor usage, for overall system performance.
In independent tests, said Symantec, the 2009 software registered class-leading file-scan throughput rates (22MBps) and the lowest amount of false positives.
One of the new features is Norton Insight, an automated, community-based security network.
Con Mallon, product marketing director for EMEA, explained this as a cloud resource: once a file gets scanned by a Norton 2009, and verified as safe, a file signature is generated and submitted. Other computers, all connected via Insight, receive updates from the dynamic resource.
This saves individual computers from having to scan files that are already known to be safe, he said. A white-list of known good files is created, singling out the infected computers.
Symantec also announced free telephonic support for the duration of a user`s subscription. If a user encounters a problem, the software will provide choices for support, including online chat and e-mail, as well as contact details for local call centres.
Norton 2009 goes on sale from 24 September. The anti-virus suite (with a one-year subscription) will retail for R429, and Norton Internet Security 2009 (three PC licences, one-year subscription) will sell for R679. Users with active subscriptions will be eligible for free updates to the new software.
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