Review: Norton 360 Version 4

Brenton Currie
Saturday, 07 May 2011 13:57

Software

Very well, at least in our experience. The suite offers very good PC security and anti-virus protection, identity protection for online transactions where personal information may be required, online backup on Symantec's servers to protect from data loss and lastly PC tuning, to optimise your computer.

Installation was simple and easy to use '” and to please advanced power users, there's plenty of customisation options available if you so please to choose them throughout the process. It took a total of 10 minutes to go from start to finish but frustratingly there was a fairly large download of updates (75MB) before installation could even occur, adding an extra 5 or so minutes to the process on our ADSL 2+ connection.

Once you get through the installation though, you're met with the re-designed dashboard, which presents you with a neat horizontal list of tasks you can undertake. Hover over the icons, and you're presented with a number of actions you can undertake in that section.

If there's one qualm we had with this dashboard-style layout, it's that steps to do things can at times be a little too longer than they need to be. For example, to check the current internet threat levels, you've got to open the 'Identity Protection' window, then select the option from the bottom of the popup.

Granted most of the time the options you need are displayed and you won't need to undertake the extra few steps, but it's the odd few that eventually become a little frustrating.