Symantec to Ship New Norton-Line for Windows Mobile Next Week

[Jerry Raia]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=3860' target='_blank'>http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=3860</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Symantec Corp., yes - the company which recently screwed up millions of Windows computers, will broaden its mobile security product line by shipping new products designed for Microsoft's Windows Mobile next week. The software will come in two versions: a consumer product called "Norton Mobile Security for Smartphones" and "Symantec Mobile Security 5.0", designed for enterprise users. Both versions will be available May 29, a company spokesman said Monday."</i><br /><br />One of the first things I do when I start up a new PC is remove every trace of Norton I can find. I wouldn't put Norton on anything other than a static computer display with no working parts. I take that back, Norton would mess even that up. What started out as a pretty functional anti virus application has now become the poster child for bloated cumbersome software. Now Symantec wants to add that bloat to our Smartphones. All I can offer is: DON'T DO IT!

[thehelios]

Um, what viruses are there for windows anyway?

[jfreiman]

i can't stand Norton any longer either! I agree what used to be a wonderful, simple and low profile piece of software now rivals only the Real Player software.
i won't let either of these programs on any of my devices or my friends.

[Tim Williamson]

I'm with you guys on Norton, I was recently working on a friends computer, and for some reason IE wouldn't connect to the net but Netscape would, I played with the connection settings a bit, and I finally though, hmm, I wonder if there's a firewall installed. Sure enough I go into Norton, and someone IE got added to the never allow a connection list... :roll: I changed the Norton firewall settings and she was good to go.

Now this may have originally been user error, but come on, I would think it would prompt the user and say "hello user, did you really want to block your internet browser".

Plus it's sluggish and ties itself into too many programs and adds useless toolbars throughout the OS.

Go with something lightweight like AVG or Avast.

[Foxbat121]

I wouldn't be supprised to see a few WM virus show up after May 29th :)

[Kris Kumar]

I wouldn't be supprised to see a few WM virus show up after May 29th :)

:)

[Pete Paxton]

One of the first things I do when I start up a new PC is remove every trace of Norton I can find. I wouldn't put Norton on anything other than a static computer display with no working parts.

Amen to that!

[hylton]

sweet...now my wm smartphone can run even slower and have no resources available for anything else...

i'll bet it'll take more space to install the stupid thing than just about any WM device has available...that'd be par fot the course for these guys.

no thanks, i'll take my chances!

seriously, first thing i do with a new pc for myself or a client, remove anything from norton, mcafee, trend, etc...install AVG and be done with it...the big boys have gotten too big and their products eat resources like candy...

[MitchellO]

i'll bet it'll take more space to install the stupid thing than just about any WM device has available...that'd be par fot the course for these guys.

no thanks, i'll take my chances!

That's the idea, no room for viruses (or anything else for that matter).

[stevew]

I agree about Norton. Zone Alarm is just as bad or worse.

[Prosper]

I wouldn't be supprised to see a few WM virus show up after May 29th :)

Dito :P

[hotdram]

one of the first things I do when I start up a new PC is remove every trace of Norton I can find. I wouldn't put Norton on anything other than a static computer display with no working parts. I take that back, Norton would mess even that up. .....All I can offer is: DON'T DO IT!

Jerry please don't hold back, tell us what you really think :lol:

I would go back to a Star-tac before I put Norton on my phone,
~Rob

[applejosh]

I wouldn't be supprised to see a few WM virus show up after May 29th :)

Sad thing is that probably has a hint of truth to it.

[Magic]

&lt;Flame retardant armour>

Well the sooner my iPhone turns up to go with my new MacBook Pro the better.

&lt;/Flame retardant armour>

[Mike Temporale]

Well the sooner my iPhone turns up to go with my new MacBook Pro the better.

Right, like there's no viri or security concerns in the apple world. (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/12/january_2007_month_of_apple_bu.html) :roll: I hope that flame retarfant suit is good and thick! ;)

The truth is, in the mobile world, only Symbian has had a virus. It's only a matter of time until others are hit, including that fruity phone. :lol:

[Mike Temporale]

I'm no Norton fan - like most of you, I remove any and all traces from my system. The only thing they have that I like is Ghost, and even that's not the best anymore.

So, I'm wondering - where or when did Norton go wrong? They used to be great. Does anyone remember the Norton desktop for windows 3.1? Or Norton's System Commander? All best of bread apps in their time.

[applejosh]

So, I'm wondering - where or when did Norton go wrong?

I don't think there was a specific event or time where you can specifically say "this is where Norton started sucking big time," but I started having loads of antivirus issues with their software starting with the 2004 version. 2003 was actually pretty good on my somewhat aged system at the time. 2004 cause me all sorts of headaches on various people's machines.

My personal opinion is they tried to do too much with one app. While the-all-in-one or multiple-things-in-one approach can work for some things (smartphones?), when it comes to software I like having individual apps that each doing a limited set of things, but do those things extremely well. Bundling all the various things (antivirus, spyware, firewall, spam filter, etc.) into one product may look nice on paper (and granted, may help those less technologically gifted who can only be trained to click on one desktop icon), but it just seems they didn't pull it off well in the performance area. The 2007 version was supposed to address the performance issue, and while I don't have any frame of reference (hadn't played with Norton since end of 2003), it didn't appear to be all that much slower than my current CA eTrust stuff (but it was still noticable). Still not my first choice, though.

[Darius Wey]

I wouldn't be supprised to see a few WM virus show up after May 29th :)

Well, it's either that or missing system files (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/05/21/Chinese-users-deal-with-Symantec_1.html). Choose your poison. ;)

[Rocco Augusto]

One of the first things I do when I start up a new PC is remove every trace of Norton I can find.

I take it one step further, one of the first things I do when I get a new computer is to completely wipe the drive clean, install a retail copy of the OS I am using and then install the appropriate drivers that are needed for the device from the companies website.

That way I don't have to deal with the shady bloatware that comes on all new PC's nowadays.

As for anti-virus, lately I have been a huge fan of AVG Free. It barely uses any resources and doesn't slow down my computer at all. :)

[MitchellO]

Yeah I think it went off the road after 2003. Norton Internet Security 2003 was the best version that they shipped, and subsequent versions just have gotten worse and worse.