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When it comes to the best known names in virus protection for the PC, two spring to mind. One is Symantec with the ever popular Norton AntiVirus and Network Associates with McAfee Virusscan. With version 8, Network Associates has given the application a new facelift, better integration with their security center and a more efficient, much more accessible, interface. The improvements are not only much needed, they will be welcome relief to those familiar with last incarnation.
The big advantage that McAfee Virusscan has over Norton Anti Virus has to do with size, or the lack of it, and resources needed to run the program. Norton, as strong as it is, does make requirements on system resources that can make a dent in the smooth operation of your PC. Depending on how much memory you have, and what you wish to do, it may not make a significant difference. However, if you are pushing your system to the limits of its processing capacity and memory, you may want to consider that issue. Unlike Norton, McAfee has always been a lean virus cleaning application. Version 8 continues that tradition.
Weighing in with a modest footprint that comes to about 9 to 11 MB once installed, McAfee is considerate when it comes to occupying space on your hard drive. It is also a real light user of your system resources. As far as speed and accuracy are concerned, at this point both are solid at what they do to the point where they are about equal. Both offer instant automatic updates, timely new definitions and solid performance. In many respects they are, at least for most users equal as far as finding and elminating virus. Naturally, everyone has their preferences, but at this point they do stand nearly equal.
One of the biggest advantages that McAfee had with their virus program was that it included an important extra, McAfee’s Firewall. Unfortunately, McAfee has elected not to include their capable Firewall with Virusscan version 8. The addition of the firewall gave McAfee a serious price point and feature point advantage that easily made it the better deal for end users. I am not certain why this has changed, but it is was a great deal. Owners of the previous version of Firewall can still run their application with Virusscan 8, however it is always a good idea with utilities like these to remain as up–to–date as possible.
The big new additions with McAfee Firewall are improved worm protection, spyware, adware and Web dialer detection, Instant Message scanning, script scanning, MS Outlook scanning, AVERT file submissions, enhanced email scanning and a revamped McAfee Security Center.
Of these new additions, the big ones are the new worm protection, improved email scanning and the new revamped security center. The old HAWK worm stopper has been replaced with a new system, the more appropriately titled Worm Stopper. This new version can stop repetitive emails being sent within a 30 second period and also checks for repeating content. Like Norton, McAfee can now scan both incoming and outgoing e–mail. This is a feature long overdue with McAfee and much welcome. My only wish is that Outlook Express had the same type of integration given Outlook. While the new version is an improvement, I wish that someone would really "beef up" overall e–mail scanning features within clients like Outlook Express, Netscape, and Eudora. This is a good start, but I do not think anyone has managed to do it as well for clients other than Outlook.
Where the new version really shines is when it comes to configuring settings. The old Virusscan was just a bit awkward when it came to locating specific functions. This time out, the actual content of the program has been shifted to the McAfee Security Center. From the small red and white square resting in the lower right hand corner of your screen you are given instant access to options for the program, the updater and other functions. This arrangement not only makes it easier, it offers more consistency in a suite in much need of uniformity. This integration works and does place McAfee at the top of the most user friendly of major name anti virus programs.
With the new help screens, better integration with other products and more user–friendly interface, existing users will want to run out and get the new version. For those that want an Anti Virus that is light on your system resources and easy to operate, version 8 is a solid program.
What once gave McAfee Virusscan a serious edge, the addition of an exceptionally accurate Firewall, is now gone. Naturally, existing users will want to go out and get this much improved upgrade. For users that want an unobtrusive easy to operate virus protection program, McAfee has presented a reasonable alternative to Norton. With better e–mail scanning, although I think that all of them can stand even more work, there is little separating the two rival programs.
If size, ease of use and overall integration with other products is important, McAfee has presented a real contender that is certainly as able as any other application on the market to keep your system virus free.
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