Help Choosing Between Norton 360, OneCare, and NOD32

Hello all,

I'm looking for some help choosing between Norton 360 and Microsoft OneCare 2 for several of my home machines. While I've done some research on the two, I'd like to get some of our learned users here experiences with the products.

Norton 360 is pretty effective and fast / low footprint. I actually own it, but I got it when it first came out and caused issues on an XP machine (Vista worked fine). I don't like the fact that there is no on-demand scan, but I do like Norton's detection rates. It also has a nifty online backup, so I don't have to worry about buying offline storage myself. Yes, there are better backups, but for what I want it serves my needs.

Microsoft OneCare 2 has, from what I've read, become much more secure since their 1.0 / 1.5 failures (I guess it helps to buy the best minds in the industry to work for you ). I'm looking forward to seeing the November AV Comparatives, but from the scans I've seen recently Microsoft is now up there with the top AVs. I also like the fact that since they're Microsoft, they are the least likely to have compatibility issues with the OS (I hope). It also has the ability to monitor my other PC's, to make sure my wife and daughter are doing their updates when they're supposed to. The backup leaves something to be desired, however - You are essentially locked into what file folders you can back up.

NOD32 (using the Vista Firewall w/ outbound turned on) would be nice, but I'd have to get a backup package (not a worry). The concern I'd have is compatibility with Vista - 2.7 gave me some web performance slowdowns and on-demand scans were goofy (UAC incompatibilities I think). 3.0 is out, but I heard (and read on the forum) its not necessarily ready for prime time. Lastly, I admit I'm biased towards bigger names (but not blinded by them).

For any of the above, I will couple it with Norton AntiBot (just as a last-ditch protection if anything beats the above).

Anyway, I'm trialling both, and wanted to get some additional feedback. Thanks in advance for the responses!

 

I wouldn't rely on MS for security.
NOD32 or Norton?Whichever runs better for you.

 

I own a license for all three mentioned programs, and at one time or another I have had them installed on one of my networked PCs.

Of the three, Microsoft OneCare 2.x provided me with a light (resource usage), well-balanced protection grid.

Norton 360 "took over" my system's registry (discovered when trying to uninstall, even with the Symantec-provided tool), but while installed 360 provided good protection, too.

ESS 3, like Norton 360 and Microsoft One Care 2.x, likewise seemed to do its job(s) well.

Not much help, am I? Well, all I can say is that I now have One Care 2.x on all of my network computers (3) and they are all performing up to my expectations.

YMMV, as always.

 

money talks,

i expect onecare to be advanced+ in 2008.

 

Same here. I think they are going to grow very fast. MS is buying all the good virus analyst from all over the world.

 

wasnt it only released this year, 2007?

well, within this year... at first it was slated for being sooo poor on detection

now, a few months down the line, its very creditable in its detection, and its even getting good heuristic scores now.

there is only one way for this AV, and thats up!

A+ for 2008.

i dont like their price though, £38? ... too much.

and i STILL dont like the idea of being protected by Microsoft.

those are my only querys.

 

Well, I agree that they will probably get better and better, but in the interim I think NOD32, Defender and the Vista Firewall (Outbound turned on) will work until then. Nice and zippy.

Although I will admit, OneCare is light and fast as well from the week I trialled it.

 

I am not sure about the rest of the world, but Microsoft's One Care is priced to protect 3 computers in the USA.

 

yes it is 3 PC,

but what if you only have 1 PC?

 

let me tell u that beta testing for next version of norton-360 is underway....and is expected to release in march-april....
sadly,i haven't tried it even once...........but on the other side my nis-08 license expires in march...........

 

Is there a 30 day trial?
Edit: I found a 90 day trial. Very impressive, to be honest. I WILL trial this one. What I can't get over is no system degradation in terms of performance, boot times, etc...