In terms of stopping traditional viruses, Norton AntiVirus 2006 provides a complete array of protection. Norton AntiVirus 2006 scans incoming and outgoing e-mail, and it monitors IM traffic through AIM, MSN, and Yahoo Messenger. In addition, Norton AntiVirus 2006 monitors the network and notifies you of any wormlike behavior it detects. For more complete performance benchmarks for Norton AntiVirus 2006, see CNET's 2006 AntiVirus performance test results page. Norton AntiVirus 2006 showed a definite performance hit during our "real-world" performance tests, but it was less severe than with McAfee. As for reliability, Norton AntiVirus has been independently tested against other antivirus products by CheckVir and AV-Comparatives, and it generally compares favorably at stopping most if not all viruses in those tests.
With Norton AntiVirus 2006, users receive product upgrades as well as signature definition updates through the life of the subscription. Previously, you had to upgrade to the latest version of the software to take advantage of new features.
Norton AntiVirus 2006 users have a choice between free online chat and paid telephone support. Both are offered 24/7. Symantec's support site, however, needs a redesign, because the link to the free online chat was extremely hard to find. We discovered the free chat link only after clicking the "Continue to phone support" link. Phone support costs $29.95 per incident or $2.95 per minute.
