Norton Internet Security 2009 Finally Kicks Ass

I’ve never been a fan of most Norton products. The last time I installed a Symantec Suite was 2007. Despite my poor experiences with their products since 2001, I hoped against hope that their latest offering would make a difference. So I installed System Works 2007 and Internet Security 2007 which promised me unparalleled system security and speed gains.It didn’t. Instead, the two suites added 2 minutes to my boot up time, 4 minutes to my shutdown, and pestered me with constant lags during the loading of games and apps.  I could brew a cup of coffee while age of empires II loaded with Norton Internet Security running.

Bummer.

That was the last straw. I ran the uninstall program, waved good riddance… but…  Symantec refused to go. Traces remained. The directory and registry entries stuck like leeches to a bleeding man.

After a vindictive format, I shifted to Eset. The Eset romance blossomed and no sexy virus scanner had me looking their way for months. I was faithful. I love Eset. And I planned to remain a fan unless I ever shifted to a Mac.

Now it’s 2 years hence. I was browsing download.com and came across a startling review.  It had to do with Norton!

From all appearances,  Symantec Corporation  finally listened to the armada of disgruntled subscribers and introduced an ultra lightweight security suite in the form of Symantec Internet Security 2009.  Unlike its predecessors which occupied hundreds of megabytes of space, took tens of minutes to install, and choked the system, the new iteration played the role of The Invisible Man.

NIS2009 was not only the Invisible Man, it was also Superman (pygmy version). The software installed in less than a minute. It barely added to boot up times. And all applications loaded as though there were no virus scanners installed. I was impressed. Prior to trying NIS2009, only Eset provided such speedy performance.

I don’t now how effective the scan engine is as I am still testing this, but from all I’ve seen so far, I may just go back to NIS once again. This is the product that Norton should have unveiled in 1999. Had they done so, they would have soundly trashed Mcafee, Kapersky and AVG.

I ran a couple of tests. Check out the stats:

Without NIS2009

Startup: 35 sec

Load Word: 13 sec

Load Photoshop: 29 sec

Process 8MB Audition File: 2mins

Load Left4Dead: 1.5 mins

Shutdown Windows: 9 sec

With NIS2009

Startup: 37 sec

Load Word: 13 sec

Load Photoshop: 25 sec

Process 8MB Audition File: 2mins

Load Left4Dead: 1.7 mins

Shutdown Windows: 12 sec

My test system involved a Compaq Presario 2.0 Ghz, 3 GB, 240GB HDD and GeForce GO video card. It’s the average PC by today’s standrds and it’s apparent from the stats that Norton Internet Security is very forgiving even to mediocre hardware. Imagine its performance on screaming quadcores or Intel I7? That would be one sweet deal.

Right now as I muse potential migration back to NIS 2009, my other laptop glares at me accusingly. Eset Business Edition is installed and its startup screen whispers “Don’t go…”

Should I? Should I not? I’m undecided as of the moment. NIS offers spanking speed with install-and-forget capabilities. I also love its interface- very intuitive.  Then, there were attempts by hackers to insinuate code that would ‘register’ trial copies of Norton. It worked for a while, but Norton defeated the hacks days later. That’s reassuring

Eset Business Edition, on the other hand, is likewise no slowpoke. It barred all viruses 100% since day one.  Not a single infection hit mission critical systems. However, I’ve noticed that upgrades to the interface and general modules have been few and far between. Hackers have also compromised it, making trialware versions fully registered. If they can do that to competent Eset, I fear the day that a virus comes in an disables  Eset fully.

What would you do?

Read Related Posts

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3. Symantec Launched Norton AntiVirus 2010 Trial
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5. Download Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 Trial Version

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