Norton Internet Security 2007 beta (discontinued)

The beta is available to the public as a 35MB download. You'll need to register your e-mail address to get a license key. The update subscription for the beta license expires August 31, 2006. The final product is expected in September 2006. During installation, you'll be asked to accept the license agreement. You'll also be asked to accept the Yahoo Toolbar. This is the result of a new partnership between Yahoo and Symantec. We were pleased to see that the toolbar was optional and wouldn't be downloaded by default.

The Norton Internet Security 2007 beta interface has been simplified; it's much cleaner than last year's. For example, instead of having different application windows open for the Norton Protection Center and Norton Internet Security, these are different tabs in the new release. So if you want to add Norton Confidential, Norton's new Internet transaction protection app, it will appear as an additional tab. Like last year's Norton Protection Center, this is still a primary way for Symantec to advertise its products. Not protected for Transaction Security? Click Learn More to be taken a Symantec store page for Norton Confidential. Again, we think McAfee's approach in putting all of the related apps together in one suite makes more sense that Norton's "buy this, now this" piecemeal approach.

When you first launch Norton Internet Security 2007, you'll see Norton's Protection Center, which displays the now-common green-yellow-red security rainbow. While Norton provides a Fix Now button, unlike McAfee's own Fix button, Symantec takes you to another layer, where you can choose what to fix and so on. For people who want to tweak what's wrong that'll be just fine, but for most home users, they'll simply want whatever's wrong fixed and will be annoyed at the extra step.

The scan-results page is too cumbersome. After identifying what's considered malware by Symantec, you still have to choose how to handle each item with a drop-down menu offering Fix, Ignore, and Exclude. While some may appreciate the granularity here, most home users will simply want to fix the problems en masse and move on. Perhaps this setting will be changed in the final Norton release.

Overall, it's hard to get excited about Norton Internet Security in light of the competition. The sweeping changes at McAfee, and now a new security suite release expected from AOL, AOL Total Care, simply offer more value. Why buy an Internet security suite when instead you can buy an entire PC diagnostic suite that includes antivirus, firewall, and antispyware protection? While Norton Internet Security 2007's suggested retail price of $70 enables you to install it on three PCs, Microsoft Windows Live OneCare, which includes some diagnostics and backup utilities, costs less--$49 for three PCs. I would wait to see what the final cost of McAfee Total Protection will be; it may be the best suite of the bunch.