Symantec develops both standalone PC protection apps and comprehensive suites and Norton AntiVirus (NAV) 2008 with Antispyware falls under the former category.

Installing the software on our test rig took 12 minutes, mostly due to the app running a preliminary system scan and making you endure an online registration process. Unfortunately, you have to complete this process at this point or else the installation won’t allow you to move forward.

On firing up the app, the most noticeable difference over its predecessor is its slick new interface. The changes are evolutionary mind you, meaning Norton veterans needn’t worry about relearning the interface. The new GUI is very user-friendly and Symantec packs in tons of on-demand help. So in terms of usability, this latest NAV release is still miles ahead of Eset’s NOD32.

Unfortunately, like its older cousin, NAV 2008 is also still a resource hog. Monitoring the app’s various executable files in Windows’ Task Manager, we counted a solid 97Mbytes of RAM being used. The scanner itself is also something of a let down too as it is still much slower than Eset’s excellent NOD32. In the time Norton took to scan our testbed’s single partition, NOD32 finishing scanning both. And, like its predecessor, NAV 2008’s definition and program updates are still quite large meaning a broadband connection is a must.

Source:itp.net/reviews/details.php?id=3265

Tags: anti spyware, anti virus, norton anti-virus