Norton AntiVirus 2009 gets new 'œGaming' edition

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 26 November 2008 08:09

Opinion and Analysis

Already buoyed by the release of Norton Internet Security 2009 with superfast speed and ultralight impact on Windows PCs, and winning a zillion awards, Symantec is now launching a special Gaming Edition of its Norton AntiVirus 2009 software, due in January.

Norton Internet Security 2009 has been Symantec’s big hit this year, completely wiping away the previous “bloatware” image that earlier versions of its software garnered over several years despite attempts to make the old code faster.

Effectively a complete rewrite was needed to transform Norton Internet Security into a product that Windows users loved, instead of hated, and the 2009 edition has blown many away with a tiny 6MB memory footprint, an ultrafast installation time of less than two minutes, super speedy scanning of existing files and a quiet operation that truly gets out of the way when you’re back at your PC trying to actually do work.

Norton Internet Security however is an “all-in-one” suite, offering both antivirus, anti-malware/keylogger/trojan/etc protection with Symantec’s firewall, and some users just don’t need the extra firewall protection, relying instead on an existing firewall product, be it software, hardware or both, and simply want the AntiVirus module.

So, Symantec has always offered its AntiVirus package as a separate program, and now in the new 2009 version is also offering a special “Gaming Edition”, which will sell in a single-user one-year licence for AUD $49.99.

Promising to “never compromise the gaming experience”, NAV 2009 Gamer Edition boasts the following features:

- New Gamer Mode keeps you protected but won’t bother you while you’re in the middle of a game. Suspends updates, alerts, and other background activities and is automatically enabled when system is in full screen mode, or easily manually enabled;

- Smart scheduling holds resource intensive actions such as system scans for when the computer is idle;

- “Industry-leading” protection from viruses, spyware, worms, Trojans, keyloggers, bots and infected web sites;

- Customisable security settings allow gamers to reach the performance and protection balance they require; and

- Performance driven release installs in under a minute, uses less than 6MB memory, adds less than 1 second to boot time and averages scans in less than 35 seconds.

Quotes from Symantec executives and a champion gamer are on page 2 – blast your way over there with a take no prisoners approach if you dare!