Norton 360

[Dan78]

When I’ve looked at Symantec’s active advertisement of Norton 360, I’ve noticed that there’s something wrong there: they offer software bundle that combines AntiVirus, Internet Security, SystemWorks and Save&Restore. And that’s all for relatively small price… But recently I decided to upgrade my Norton product line and thought: “Why not giving it a try?”

Now I must say, this is not BUNDLE, it’s RIPE-OFF! You get some misplaced parts of abovementioned packages mixed together, resulting in very bad experience. Formerly I’ve had fully functional Norton Internet Security, now I get it castrated, plus some more degenerated features belonging to other packages. What do I get?

 NO in-depth configuration: it just works somehow, you can’t control it, except for some very basic options, like ON/OFF switch.
 NO event logs!!! For me as IT Specialist, this is total insult in my best feelings for Symantec! I can’t run my system without firewall and antivirus logs! I feel myself blind and handicapped.
And the most annoying feature is backup system – the part I was aiming for when upgrading. Like all other features, there is NO way to configure it properly. It does blind search for files that it considers ‘important’. They are mainly pictures and videos, plus some office documents. But it thwors LOTS of junk along, like pictograms and page designs from internet cache, some application skins and other stuff I don’t care of. All that junk makes no sense, but still eats LOTS of backup disk space. Other hand, some files that are REALLY important for me are ripped off, most of them being exe files or rare file types. What about my device driver library? I get updated versions often, so I need to back them up incrementally. What about my savegames? What about mods and other stuff for my games? And what about LOTS of other stuff that I REALLY care of?!!1

And yet again, there’s NO way to easily configure it. I even don’t know which files and folders it tries to back up. All you get is report with backup size per file category. But what files and folders does it back up exactly? Yes, there ARE some lists of folders, but you get to dig through all subfolders and subcategories to determine what’s really included. And yet I feel myself out of control again: I don’t know what and how it’s going to back up, but it already eats up about 5 DVD’s. And yes, there’s no backup compression, I don’t ever mention encryption and other security options.

Well, I know that there ARE some users who will like 360 just as it is now. They are basic users who won’t bother configuring firewalls or investigating problems through logs and other stuff… But as power user, I find Norton 360 absolutely disappointing. Also I feel misguided by Symantec’s advertisement, as I didn’t get stuff that was promised. Now I see where’s the trick: they promised ‘automated scans’, ‘automated backups’ and other things automated… But hey, AUTOMATED doesn’t mean UNCONTROLLED! Even full-featured Norton Internet Security has lots of automated functions that require no or minimal user intervention… Yet that’s fully-functional product that I have nothing to say against…

I think that 360’s ads must clearly state that this product is for basic/home users and not intended for IT professionals and advanced users. This will prevent lots of misunderstanding.

And since this product is really demo version of other products, we ‘proud’ owners should get discounted prices for all products that it promotes.

[cgoldman]

I don't think it can be harvested or eaten, but I know what you mean.

It seems to me that Norton 360 is designed for a certain market and I do not think Symantec has pretended or marketed it otherwise.

I always suggest to people, that if a trial is available, that they trial the software first. Perhaps this is what you should have done, because certainly a trial is available.

Norton 360 does have a firewall - a very good one in my opinion, and there are some logs. Of course you do not say what Norton product you were using before and why you did not stay with the next generation of that product.

The backup is I agree not that good. Its missing lots of features and it is not intuitive. I know because I have made the mistake of saying it has a fundamental flaw, when in fact I merely failed to appreciate how to use it. In fact you can turn off any or all of the pre-selects and simply select which files and folders you want to backup. Accordingly, you can configure it to back up the files you want, but I do not think for example you can set "patterns".

You might be interested to know that you can right click a file or folder in Explorer and add that to the backup set. Having said that you do not even state which version you are using of Norton 360.

Message Edited by cgoldman on 07-20-2008 02:13 PM

[BrandonFL]

I don't believe Symantec is mis-advertising 360 either.

True, it does have all the "faults" you mentioned above. However, it is not meant for professional IT types ... or even above-average computer user. It's meant for the average or below-average computer user who just want an easy-to-use program.

Here's what PC Magazine, a rather techie magazine, had to say about it in their web site review on April 14:

______________

For most PC Magazine readers, a hands-on security suite like Norton Internet Security 2008 is the best fit. But when you go to set up Granny's computer, choose Norton 360 version 2.0 instead. It protects a computer just as NIS 2008 does, and it includes bonus features like a backup facility and a PC tune-up feature. And because it does its work in the background, Granny won't get confused.

_______________

 As a 360 beta tester, I can testify that Symantec went to great lengths to accomplish what the review said

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

---

BrandonFL wrote:

I don't believe Symantec is mis-advertising 360 either.

True, it does have all the "faults" you mentioned above. However, it is not meant for professional IT types ... or even above-average computer user. It's meant for the average or below-average computer user who just want an easy-to-use program.

Here's what PC Magazine, a rather techie magazine, had to say about it in their web site review on April 14:

______________

For most PC Magazine readers, a hands-on security suite like Norton Internet Security 2008 is the best fit. But when you go to set up Granny's computer, choose Norton 360 version 2.0 instead. It protects a computer just as NIS 2008 does, and it includes bonus features like a backup facility and a PC tune-up feature. And because it does its work in the background, Granny won't get confused.

_______________

 As a 360 beta tester, I can testify that Symantec went to great lengths to accomplish what the review said

---

I agree with you -- N360 is fit and forget for people who just want to backup their photos and personal files.

<< But when you go to set up Granny's computer, choose Norton 360 version 2.0 instead. >>

PCMag got a lot of ragging, and worse, about that, apologised to grannies and, I thought, altered the on-line article but I see it's still there on-line so maybe the re-backpedaled.

PC really gone mad -- in all senses <g>

[Dan78]

Well, just how it worked for me. I've seen lots of active advertisement for 360 at Norton's site. The first thing I noticed was that this is like bundle pack that prevents from buying 3-4 separate packs. Also I've noticed that there's almost no attention to products like Save&Restore and SystemWorks, which gave me hint that they are being replaced with 360. But I was not interested upgrading my current Norton Internet Security 2008, so I just kept reading the ads. A week ago I've upgraded my entire computer and switched from Windows XP to Windows Vista. And I've decided to upgrade my Norton subscription as well, as I'll have to do that soon anyway. Another reason was that Nero BackItUp was not working correctly under Vista, and I wanted to replace it with Norton solution anyway... So as I already mentioned in the original post, backup was one of my primary aims when upgrading. Then I went to Symantec Store Online and chose Upgrade Center. Along with subscription renewals for NIS2008 I've noticed 360 and thought, 'why not?' Now I'm feeling sorry for that rush decision, but I still think that if Symantec's advertising was a bit more clear and definitive then I'd better stockpiled some more money and purchased Save&Restore and then maybe SystemWorks..

[johna]

Dan78 I hear what you are saying and agree that N360 is not designed for those more technically minded, it is more for the set and forget style of user. However, I am slightly surprised that you didn't take advantage of the 2 week trial prior to dishing out for something you weren't sure about. I also hear what you are saying in regards to the advertising being a bit misleading for you. Why don't you approach Symantec for a refund or negotiate some sort of switch back to NIS08, NIS09 will be out in a couple of months, a huge improvement over NIS08, and you will be able to upgrade for free. 

Thanks for the well written and interesting comments, hopefully Symantec will see your feedback.

Edit: Sent you a PM on here, you should see it up in the top right hand corner of the page.

Message Edited by johna on 07-21-2008 05:38 AM

[JeffKyle]

Hi Dan78,

Thanks for your feedback.  It is helpful.  I think that you have come to notice both in your usage and through some of the other posts, that Norton 360 is not necessarily the best product for every computer that you own. 

When Symantec took a look at security landscape and along with that how do people want to be protected, we found that there is a very large number of computer users who want to interact with their security product as little as possible.  Their goals are typically to just open up their computer, know that they are safe, jump on the internet and maybe work on some other apps and do what they need to get done and close it.  They don't want fuss and they want to be approached in terms that they understand.  They don't want to be intimidated by terms and options that they don't understand.  There are many people like this.  They want a product that just protects and makes decisions for them.  That was our goal and I firmly believe that we have a winning product and many agree!

For more technically saavy persons, such as yourself and perhaps even like me for certain computers, Norton 360 may be a little too automated and friendly to run thorugh what you may want, and Norton Internet Security is a better choice.  But at the same time for the people that the referenced article talks about , and I would argue even beyond my parents and grandparents (and I happily note that I have gained back a significant number of hours acting as IT support for my extended family by installing N360) but also certainly to at least some of my computers, that Norton 360 is the best product based upon the usage and user.  I find this is the case for the computers, in particular, that I let any guests on and any computers that I'm happy not to have to configure.

We want to make sure that you have the products that make you happy.  You should be able to work with Customer Support on this, especially if you are in your first 60 days of use.  And by the way, in purchasing any standard license of our subscription security products, you will be entitled to any upgrades for free when they are made available.  For example if you buy Norton Internet Security 2008 today will be entitled to a free upgrade to the 2009 version, as long as the subscription is active.  Similarly an actively subscribed Norton 360v2 user will be entitled to Norton 360v3 when it arrives.

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

Thanks for that excellent statement of the background philosophy behind the two.

As others have said perhaps it needs to be stressed a little in Symantec promotion and someone in marketing needs to actually go out and click on all the buttons!

For example if you click on Products in the Welcome menu bar above you get taken to:

http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/index.jsp 

And even if you explore a bit it can be downright unhelpful (read "wrong") ...

Go to the Norton 360 page and click on the 10 second Guide to help in selecting a product (you may have to hold down CTRL while you do this) and start the guide.

Check any or all of the boxes and you get N360 as the preferred choice -- OK the choices are biassed to N360 as the product -- but heaven help us if you click on Backup my data -- second choice is Norton Internet Security 2007, not even Save & Restore or Ghost, and not the current version even.

Compare Related Products is straightforward but based on what has been developed in this thread I think you really need to stress the Simple Fit and Forget for N360 and the Fine Tuning for those who need multiple settings for NIS (and NAV?)

Which does raise the question of NIS2009 where the front end seems directed at the N360 market while the Settings pages are for the fine tuners .......

Please don't get upset by my comments -- I spent my working life in hi-tech development and marketing it to industry .... and I'm delighted to be retired! <g>

[louiswu]

I've got to say, norton 360 suits my needs perfectly, mainly:

I am a performance user, I play the latest games, I don't want live updates or scans shooting off in the background when I'm doing tasks I want my processor dedicated to 100%

And this is really where norton360 shines for me, before I'd switch off my av, boot it up maybe once a week and do a full system scan on some downtime, but now I'm safe in the knowledge I can use my computer however I want, leave it alone, and norton360 will virus scan where appropriate.

I don't have to think about my security, and I get the full benifit of maximum performance. So for these reasons, I use 360. In my opinion, that's how it was advertised to me aswell.

[johna]

>>I don't want live updates or scans shooting off in the background..>>

Actually, Live Update will continue to run on schedule, and another thread on here actually asked how to stop this from running and interrupting his games, which was solved.

Glad you like the product, it has really low drag and is very user friendly. Maybe a little more information with regards to threats found and resolved I may have stuck with it, but back to NIS for me, def not NIS08, but NIS09 looks promising.