I've used NIS/AV since 2005 and other Norton Antivirus products previously back into the 1980s. I find this decision to have a program which I have paid for stop working completely after the subscription expires to be objectionable.
Oh yes, I get the reminders, but I have instead purchased new product through both internet and local retailers which have rebates which drop the cost of the subscription to a fraction of even the discounted renewal price. I find this action becoming increasingly a necessity due to the current state of the economy. Many companies have reduced prices on products to encourage sales; I just don't like to do it through rebates.
Fortunately I had my copy of NIS2010 in hand prior to the expiration and was waiting until the weekend to upgrade. I had to wait about a month longer as the rebate at one of my preferred retailers had expired (no stock left in store) and I patiently waited until the offer was repeated. I didn’t want to downgrade to just AV but wanted to keep the product I was using (NIS). On each upgrade since NIS2008, I found that waiting a few days would not sufficiently increase the vulnerability on my desktop as it doesn't run 24x7 and I can select whether or not to connect to the internet. Additionally, in prior NIS releases, it was rather difficult to even determine when and if a new antivirus live update had been loaded. (If I only get updated antivirus signatures every 2 - 3 days, is it really vulnerable? I've seen occasions where a week went by before a new update was loaded and this was on the Enterprise Security product used at my employment.)
Now with NIS2009 expiration, the antivirus shut down completely with what appears to be no protection at all, and this action disturbs me greatly.
My hardware firewall in my internet router doesn't stop working because the warranty expires. (And there is licensed software inside that router which continues to work after that period.)
I won't go into the arguments about what Symantec thinks is the best solution, but as a customer I feel betrayed by this action. I've read the Eula’s and notice that this now could be an effect of this product and now I will need to make a choice when I get the reminder to renew.
Will the price of the renewal be adjusted to what I've really been paying? You could see the rebate forms and the products I've purchased as I've linked them all to the same account. I don't think that the $10 off on a renewal is appropriate when you are subsidizing new purchase with rebates that offer much below this price. If I could renew for the same price as the purchase with rebates, it would be an instant no-brainer. I'd renew before the expiration and then I wouldn't have to play this rebate game, which is exactly what it is, a game.
I can also choose to use much less expensive alternatives (Free from my ISP, or Free to non-commercial users).
I thought that with NIS2009 and 2010 that Norton had finally got it almost right by not consuming all resources while scanning and a less intrusive interface to notify the user.
What I and probably other NIS users would like to see would be a product that continues to protect (even if the updates are not current, I can live with that decision) and a realistic price on renewals. (You have a customer, try not to loose him.)
Please reconsider the behavior of your product and observations from a long time user of your products.