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Symantec Norton Internet Security 2010
by bilbobaginz
When reviewing my 6-month old Toshiba laptop several days ago, I briefly mentioned the internet security package I had bought and installed specifically for the purchase of the computer. The anti-virus software was Norton 2010, and after some deliberation I thought I'd give in and have a go at reviewing it.
Now, when I first ... heard of Norton about two years ago I was confronted with nothing but negativity in regards to the products performance. Friends and family seemed adamant that their frustration with the software and its apparant 'never ending restrictions and irritating pop-up question windows' proved undoubtedly that the system was flawed in every way. One thing I heard repeated over and over was peoples anger over the large amount of 'CPU usage' Norton software hogged from other programs, greatly reducing overall performance and speed of your system. But surely it can't have been that bad...
So how have Symantec Norton tackled these negative comments in their 2010 edition?
Before I begin babbling on about any possible changes for the better the company might have made, it has to be recognised that this software is no longer Norton's newest edition - that would be 2011's side of the woods. But nonetheless, for people who are considering purchasing the 2010 edition for what ever reason, this is what I've found:
- Despite the fact the company claims to have lowered the CPU usage of the software, that hasn't stopped them cramming in pointless features on the main 'home' control panel (accessed via a small icon in the bottom right hand corner of your screen - when using a Microsoft Windows OS).
* For no real benefit to the user, there is a running total of the 'top cities under threat' from viruses.
* When clicking through to 'performance' the software swamps you with boring, unhelpful graphs you're not interested in.
* The pages are over-run with links to websites where you can 'manage your online backups' and 'view your
online family statistics' for no benefit at all.
- The control panels theming, colour schemes and animations are far too complex and over-designed. When you move from page to page, i.e. from 'Settings' to 'Performance', the whole window revolves for no reason. Why put that in when it only increases CPU usage and annoys people?
- One clear improvement the software seems to have made since its previous edition is to allow users to navigate the control panel relatively harmlessly in a well layed out surrounding. The headings are where you expect them to be, at the top-right, and the information and statistics in the centre.
The product as a whole does seem far more intuitive and favourable to use. One of the main ways Norton have tackled the whole irritation over CPU usage is by allowing users to lower this in the 'settings' panel. You can select whether the software is permanently scanning, or only scanning certain (changable) period of time. Similarly, you can change which areas of the computers memory unit, or internet activities are being scanned. In general the software has been made to be much more 'user friendly' and flexible in its operation.
In regards to the 'pop-up windows' which can aggrivate users, these have also been reduced. It's not that the software assumes more now, answering questions without consent, or deciding on key decisions alone, it just condenses these requests into fewer questions to the user. if there are certain things that the user is happy for the software to assume, like allowing the user onto certain websites, then these can be listed and adapted into the system for ever... now that's a good user friendly innovation!
All in all this software has made huge improvements from previous models my friends and family hated so much. But is that enough to make me go out and buy the 2011 version when this version is all dried up? No thanks, I'll stick with Avast or AVG next time!
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Iris Readiris Pro 10
by HairyGodmother
I am a big fan of OCR software and find that on occasions it can be very useful. OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition, and these types of applications are used for converting printed documents into editable documents on your screen.
I recently bought Readiris Pro 10.0 and can truly say that this version is a whole lot better ... than the previous version, which did not have a very high success rate. Readiris Pro 10.0 now supports a huge range of languages - 117 in total! Ranging from Afaan Oromo right through to Zulu. once text has been recognised by the software, you can save it in 14 different text formats and six different image formats. The new version also has support for the recognition of barcodes.
As anybody who uses OCR software will tell you, the key most important attribute of the software must be the accuracy of its reading. The makers of Readiris Pro 10.0 claim that the new version has an increase in accuracy of around 30% better than that in version 9.0.
If you have previously bought a Hewlett Packard Scanner, you may already be semi-familiar with the kind of thing that Readiris proveds, since most HP scanners come bundled with a smaller version of the software - Readiris lite.
There is also a corporate edition available, which comes in at a much heftier price-tag of around £170, however, as you'd expect it has a huge list of additional features, which makes it much more ideal for processing documents en-mass as it were.
One of the better things about this software package is that it comes complete with a printed manual, whereas most modern software applications suffer from having only an online help guide.
I love the new design of the software, as it now encompasses a Windows XP based skin, and I also love this version as it is very easy to use as it contains only two panels to work in, one for the image and one for physical processing.
ACCURACY
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The most important part of any OCR application is its ability to be accurate when reading and processing printed text. Readiris, along with most other OCR development packages has an excellent ability to do this very accurately. In all the documents I have tried I have had an accuracy of around 100% many times, although on a few occasions there are the odd mistakes - but these can be corrected manually later on.
Readiris incorporates the ability to read handwriting too, however on my trials with this I found that its ability to do this accurately was embarrassing! My handwritten words were transformed into printed text that could not easily be read.
SUMMING UP
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In summing up, I would say that if you are looking for a piece of software that delivers accuracy in reading printed media, then Readiris 10.0 is the one for you. However, if you are looking for something that will accurately read handwritten pieces, then I would not recommend Readiris as its accuracy for this type of reading is very poor.
The standard package will cost you around £100, with the corporate package coming in at around £170
Iris: 01483 794 444
www.irislink.com
Thank you for reading, I hope you have found this helpful.
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Kaspersky Internet Security 2011
by Bokkie
I must admit that, despite been quite clued up technologically, I have very little understanding of how viruses and malware work; I understand the basic concept behind what most types of malware do, however further than that I am relatively clueless. As such I am relatively paranoid about the security of my data, and the longevity of ... my computer, and am very pleased with the peace of mind that Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 gives me.
My biggest problem, when selecting Anti-Virus / Internet Security software has been finding the right balance between price, protection, and computer performance. I have tried, and been dissatisfied with, AVG's free antivirus software, which performed well in price and also in that it did not effect my computer's performance but failed to satisfy the level of protection I was looking for, and Norton 360, which offered me very good protection but (at £59.99 per One Year 3 PC License - for the newest edition) failed on price and definitely failed by taking up so much RAM that my laptop struggled with basic functions, however with Kaspersky Internet Security - first 2010 and now 2011 - I have found the perfect middle ground - and I do mean perfect, I cannot fault it in any respect.
Price -
It is priced at £39.99 per One Year Licence for 1 PC or £49.99 for 3 PCs on Kaspersky's website; granted this is only a saving of £10 when compared to Norton 360, but when you trade in 2011 for 2012 at the end of the year you will get 20% off the standard price.
It is also worth noting that a large proportion of people may qualify to get Kaspersky Internet Security free, as I did; if you are a Current Account holder with Barclays Bank you are eligible to download this product, good for one year (and then renewable for free) and 3 PCs, without paying a charge - http://www.barclays.co.uk/ Helpsupport/ FreeInternetsecuritysoftware/ P1242557966961
Effect on Computers performance
Whilst running in the background, constantly keeping my computer safe, Kaspersky's effect on my Laptop's performance is hardly noticeable, and my Laptop only runs a 2GHZ processor with 2GB of RAM - a relatively averagely powered computer.
I have read in some reviews that computers are been slowed down when the program updates; personally I never found this to be the case - if it were not for the fact that when I check the Protection reports I would not know it had been updating itself daily at all.
The only time I admit that it does have an effect on my computer's performance is when it is running it's 'Full Scan' and even then it really isn't too noticeable, when compared to the suicidalally slow performance Norton reduces computers to - at worse programs tend to take an extra second or two to start with Kaspersky.
Protection and Ease of use-
Installation first of all; I personally would recommend downloading Kaspersky if you have broadband, either through the Barclays link or through the Kaspersky site having paid for it online, as it is not an overly large file (mine is sitting in Program Files at 60.6MB) and it means that, once downloaded, it is instantly ready to go.
Once downloaded or once the CD is inserted it is SO easy. Kaspersky's set-up wizard starts up quickly, and is simple and easy to use; you are guided through logical screen progressions by clear and concise instructions, it advices on solutions to problems (such as needing to uninstall other anti-virus software), and comprehensively makes sure you know what you are doing. As per most Anti-Virus systems you will be prompted to restart your computer toward the end of the installation process, after which the Set-up wizard will restart itself promptly - saving you the trouble of doing anything.
Once installed you are offered the chance to go through the Training Wizard, a useful feature if you are a PC novice, and also prompted to decide whether you want to configure the safety settings and application access levels yourself, something an advanced user may want to do, or if you want Kaspersky to do it automatically (continuously updating it's setting based on your usage and how safe it thinks applications are); as a side note, if you choose for Kaspersky to automatically decide, it will still ask for your input with regards to certain applications access levels - not enough to become annoying however
I could describe the full functionality of the product in gross detail, but I do not have the inclination nor do I think any reader would have the patience to read a review detailing each of the packages features; it suffices to say it has many useful, relevant, functional, and perfectly automated features that all work well in coordination to comprehensively protect my computer - nothing has got through yet (fingers crossed, touch wood, throw salt over left shoulder, ect). Alongside this ,with regards to ease of use, every function in this product is well thought out, simple to use, and can even boast to be one of those products that perfect achieves functionality without sacrificing any aesthetics - it evens looks good.
All of this said, for fear of people saying I have sold this jolly good product short by not mentioning any of its extensive features, below is a slightly descriptive list of what you can expect to find within the Control Panel
Kaspersky Internet Security's Control Panel is broken down into 7 Sections.
The first is the large Green, Yellow, or Red indicator button at the top; it's colour changes to indicates your security status - a handy and easy to understand function - and if you click on it you gain access to a more detailed Status report, the Detected Threats tab (with the ability to see past detected threats), and the Reports tab (where you can find daily, monthly, and yearly reports, displayed in easy to understand graphs, for the entire period you have used the product).
The second is Protection Centre, within which is 3 Tabs containing information and access to a host of different functions....
File and Private Data Protection - 'File Anti-Virus' (Scans all open, saved, or accessed files), 'Application Control' (Classifies Applications and restricts their behaviour), and the 'Proactive Defence'.
System and Application Protection - 'Web Anti-Virus', 'Mail Anti-Virus', 'IM Anti-Virus', 'Anti-Spam', 'System Watcher' (Monitors All Application activity), and 'Network attack blocker'.
Online Security - 'Firewall', 'Anti-Phishing', and 'Anti-Banner',
Whilst skipping over how each of these works, I will say that they all work very well and are very easy to program and understand. Everything in the protection centre is displayed with an on/off green/red icon next to it (for obvious reasons) and their settings can all be modifiable for advances users.
The third is Safe Run, which contains 'Safe Run for applications' (creates isolated desktop so you can run potentially dangerous applications in safety), 'Safe Run for websites' (adds an additional layer of protection when accessing potentially dangerous website), and the 'virtual keyboard' (which also appears as an icon on your default browser)
The fourth is Scan within which is contained the 'Full Scan' and 'Scan Critical Areas' functions
The fifth is Update Centre which allows you the ability to 'Run Update' (or set its schedule / tell it to update whenever it needs to) and 'Rollback' (allowing you to rollback to a previous session if any particular update upset your computer)
The sixth is Parental Control - simply a menu that restricts and tracks (as many) users access to the computer and internet based on how it has been set by the administrator.
The Seventh is Tools, which is for the more advanced user, containing 'Rescue Disk', 'Vulnerability Scan', 'Browser Configuration', 'Privacy Cleaner' (scans computer for, and deletes, cookies and temp files), and 'System Restore'.
Overall, as I have said throughout (and as I am sure the tone of this review denotes), I could not be happier with Kaspersky Internet Security 2011; for the price it is perfect and for what it claims to be it is perfect, I cannot imagine what they have added to Kaspersky Pure to make it more comprehensive but it must be awesome to be able to claim to be better than this program.
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