Norton AntiVirus 2011 - first impressions

If you know me, I've been a faithful Norton AntiVirus (NAV) user for quite a long time. I wasn't particularly crazy over NAV a few years back, but in recent years, NAV has dramatically improved and today, it is, IMHO, one of the best antivirus solutions out there.

As part of my subscription, Norton offered me a free upgrade to the latest 2011 version. I installed it without hesitation, and I'm bursting with excitement to share my first impressions with you, because good has become even better.

Firstly, installation was lightning fast - super easy and fuss-free. After a reboot and an activation screen, NAV is setup and ready to use.

Norton AntiVirus 2011 main screen

This is the home interface for NAV 2011. I think it's comprehensive without being too intimidating. New in this version is a map which shows worldwide cyber crime activity for the past 24 hours. Cool. Only gripe with this new UI is that the system status at the top could be more prominent.

NAV sidebar gadget (top)

Norton also provides a sidebar gadget for Windows, which shows you at a glance your system status, and provides two buttons below - one to launch NAV with the Activity Map, and the other with Norton's online backup.

Performance

NAV, back in the XP-era, always had a reputation of being big, intrusive, bloated and a memory hog.  But with this version, I can confidently say it's far from that.  NAV 2011 is a full-featured antivirus software which doesn't compromise on performance.  It is blazing fast, lightweight, and doesn't slow down your system.  Everything feels snappy.  LiveUpdate works fast, the main screen is almost instant start-up, and scan times are the BEST I've seen from any security software.  Doing a quickscan (after running Norton Insight once) only took me 15 seconds.  Mind-blowing!

NAV's performance screen - allows you to see how much resources its sapping up

Security

I don't have scientific test results to convince you, but I'd say that Norton AntiVirus is very effective, both in protecting you from threats and removing them.  Ever since I've used Norton, not a single threat went unnoticed - even those minor tracing cookies gets picked up in scans.  And ever since I've used Norton, my computer has not been infected with any malware.  That's all I can say - it is pretty darn good.  Provided, of course, you update virus definitions.

Norton Facebook wall scan

New in this version are also two new type of scans you could perform - one is a reputation scan (checks the trust level, age and prevalence of programs and processes on your computer) and the other one - now this is interesting - is a Facebook wall scan, which scans your facebook wall for potentially dangerous website links.  Very innovative. 


Customisation

Settings panel

At first look, the settings panel is intimidating.  There's so many things for the user to tweak, so many options and settings.  The one I'd recommend to adjust is to turn on Microsoft Office Auto Scan.  You could slowly ploy through the other options and adjust them as you please.  If not, the defaults are fine.

Norton Insight

Norton Insight

So how does Norton accomplish it? A full-featured solution without the bulk and the heft? It's every security company's dream right? This is where the intelligence lies - Norton Insight.  What Insight does is to scan your computer processes against Norton's list of safe processes.  Once it has been trusted by Norton, any subsequent computer scans performed will skip through scanning those processes, thus achieving quick scan-times.  Very smart, and works extremely well.

Conclusion

This is just my first impressions of NAV.  If you're the kinda guy who will only be convinced by charts, graphs and numbers, Google for another review.  But if you're a normal home-user like me, and you're looking for a standard anti-virus software for PC protection, hands-down, I'd recommend Norton AntiVirus 2011.  It is excellent in almost every aspect. 

If money's an issue though, you could also consider the free and excellent Microsoft Security Essentials.  It's good, but not quite up-to-par with Norton.

Apple music event 1 sept - quick thoughts

Just watched the jobs-note, and here are some quick off-the-cuff thoughts regarding the new product announcements.

Once the reality distortion field disappears and the Apple hype fades off, proper judgment sets in and I must say that the event was nothing fantastic or revolutionary. All the announcements were evolutionary updates to already very good products. And Apple's appetite for smaller thinner iPods continue to drastic levels - it's the whole form over function thing.

Image from Apple

iPod shuffle:
The new 4th gen shuffle looks almost exactly like the 2nd gen, except that it is now smaller. Clearly the button-less design of the 3rd gen wasn't well-received. The new shuffle also gains the voiceover technology from the 3rd gen, plus genius mixes.

The nice thing to note though is how unbelievably cheap the shuffle is - S$78 for 2GB. Nice, but uh - nothing to get wild over.

Image from Apple

iPod nano:
This is perhaps the most interesting release. Apple has repositioned this product slightly, making it solely a music player. The video capabilities and video camera have been removed - Apple has moved it up to the iPod touch (more on that later.) Firstly, the click wheel has disappeared, making way for a 240px 1.5-inch square multi-touch screen with a UI similar to iOS. Because it is so crazily minute now, it also gains a clip like the shuffle. Gone also are notes, calendar, contacts and games that were present in other generations.

Some people will make noise that video function is gone, but I think it isn't that big a loss anyway. Who really did enjoy watching video on the small screen of the previous nanos? Apple is clearly pushing consumers who want video over to the iPod touch, and the nano now just does what it does best - music. The loss of calendaring, notes and contacts is also no biggie - we all have our phones to handle that. To replace the loss functionality, Apple has included an FM radio with live pause, a pedometer, Nike+ and a whopping 24 hour battery life. Pricing is also very attractive, but the storage still caps at 16GB.

Image from Apple

iPod touch:
Uh, nothing much to say here as well. Basically, the iPod touch gains most of the new features of the iPhone 4 to keep it up-to-date. Yes retina display, FaceTime, HD video recording, A4 processor, 3 axis gyro.. yada yada, all the good stuff the iPhone 4 has basically. The concept of the iPod touch remains the same - it is still an iPhone without the phone. And Apple is also marketing its gaming prowess by adding Game Centre, a social gaming network. All in all, the best iPod touch so far.

But I'm sad!!! Because of the addition of TWO cameras, I can't bring it to camp! Bad news for all army people. But I'm happy with my current iPod touch, it's good enough.

iTunes 10 sidepane - Apple likes it grey.

iTunes 10:
Ahh this is where I have to bitch a little. I don't like the new UI changes to iTunes! As usual, to visually separate version 10 from other versions, Apple gave the UI a spit shine. Firstly, there's a new blue-ish iTunes icon (do we really need a new icon apple?) which still looks fine. But launch iTunes and EEKS! Why is everything so dull, muted and grey now! The coloured icons on the left navigation pane have been replaced with greyscale versions, the volume slider has changed again, and on the mac the three window buttons (expand, min and maximise) has been weirdly placed into a vertical column. I just don't get it... it's so clear these changes are done just because it's a new version.

Apart from the UI nonsense, iTunes 10 adds a new social network platform called ping. I see this as playing catch-up to the zune social. I don't care too much about it frankly. Overall, iTunes still remains largely as it is - don't let the new icon fool you it's still the same old program.

To sum it all up, still the same one word - evolutionary. But I don't think that's bad, it just means the iPod line-up is near perfect. (Apple, why don't you focus on the Apple TV and make it something more than "another hobby"?)

Microsoft Security Essentials review: good enough?

When Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) first launched, I wrote a post about how this could spell doom for security software companies like Norton, but I also expressed my apprehension about free anti-virus software. I mean, Microsoft states it clearly that it is essentials. So is this a good enough anti-malware solution for home users?

I've been using MSE as my sole anti-virus software for three months now on two Windows laptops. One is running Vista business, the other is a netbook with 7 Starter. Before that, I was using Norton products, but when my subscription expired, I figured out that renewing was costly and so decided to give MSE a chance. (By the way, I'm still a big Norton fan.)

So can MSE replace Norton Anti-virus?

If you don't want to read through the rest, the short and simple answer is YES.

MSE indeed lives up to its promise of being a lightweight, hassle-free, top-notch anti-malware software. I don't know if this brings you any assurance, but at least I felt more secure knowing that MSE is based on the same protection technologies as Microsoft Forefront.

Microsoft Security Essentials main console

The installation was fuss-free and quick. Once installed, Windows Defender gets disabled, which is only natural since MSE is a superset of Defender. MSE's user interface is spartan, but extremely clear and well-organised. At one look you'll know if your system is healthy or not. Green means good, red means bad, yellow means at risk... couldn't be more straightforward.

Virus definition updating takes place either within the MSE console, or via Windows Update. You can update manually, or MSE will do it automatically in the background. There are new definitions released daily. It is really unobtrusive - no funny pop-up messages and what not - it just works.

Now the big question on every user's mind: is MSE effective in malware protection?

This I can't speak with authority, because everyone's mileage will vary. But I will say this: if you're a cautious user like me, then MSE is sufficient to keep you protected real-time from all the threats like worms, viruses, spyware, trojans etc.

Of course this gets tricky because 'cautious' is subjective and hard to define. What I mean by cautious includes not surfing dangerous websites, scanning files on download, running only programs you trust, scanning removable media before opening, doing weekly scans and so forth. If you're a careful computer user, and you don't intentionally do stuff that could harm your system, then MSE will keep you safe. But if you purposely visit malicious sites, install suspicious software, then I can't say with certainty MSE will protect you because I haven't been in that situation before.

All I can say is that in the three months, I have had zero virus attacks/infections using MSE as my only anti-virus. So to me, MSE is as good as Norton in protecting me from threats. Just today I plugged my friend's infected thumb drive into my computer, and immediately, MSE alerted me about the trojan before it even opened the contents. So from that one experience I can say real-time protection does work.

But surely MSE isn't perfect. There are areas which I felt could improve. Firstly, the scan times are quite long. I'm used to the super-quick quick scans from Norton products, so in comparison MSE's quick scan is noticeably longer. Also, full system scans may take anywhere between 1-2 hours depending your computer. It's a really long wait.

So to conclude, if you can't afford or don't want to pay for Norton anti-virus or similar products, I can safely recommend MSE to you and I'm sure it will keep your system safe and running. But of course if money is no issue then go get Norton, because Norton does have a few advantages and extra features. The real question is if these extras (like Norton file insight etc) are worth the money. That's only for you to decide. My advice is to first try out MSE, and if it isn't good enough then buy Norton. If it is, and for most people it will be, then keep on using MSE because it never expires!

It's hard to come across such good software. Microsoft has got anti-virus right. It's free, small, light and good. I never thought this day would come.

iPad quick thoughts

The Apple iPad is a device which bridges the gap between the iPhone and a laptop. In many ways it's a glorified iPod touch. I think it's way too early to judge if the iPad is a success or not. I don't know if it will be a game changer. All we can do is wait and see first.

As of now, if you're entertaining the notion of purchasing this at first launch (i.e. 2 months from now), I discourage you from doing so. Clearly, this is still a version 1.0 product that needs refining. We aren't even sure if we really need it. I'm not sure if I could actually use this as a netbook replacement. After all, there's no flash support, no multi-tasking, web cam... yada yada.

As much as Apple calls it a new class of device, the truth is that the iPad will compete head on with the saturated netbook market. The iPad's aggressive pricing implies this. So the first question that I ask is whether the iPad can do what most people do on netbooks. Now as much as Apple says netbooks suck/is not the solution, the truth is that it is wildly successful, and because of its success surely the netbook can't be all wrong. It is successful because it offers full laptop capabilities in a cheap and compact form-factor. In my view, if the iPad is going to be a huge success like the iPhone was, it has to do what the netbook does, and do it 10 times better. If not, then I think it makes little sense for people to get the iPad in addition to a netbook. It just complicates life to have to manage another device.

So to me the real question is this: can the iPad replace a netbook? If no, then I won't get it. I don't want to be managing my iPhone, netbook, laptop AND my iPad. It's just too much technology for me.

Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 thoughts

[Note: I have not installed MSE yet, it is not available in my country. All opinions are based on information online.]

So Microsoft has just launched it's new Microsoft Security Essentials v1.0 software (MSE abbreviated). MSE is basically a free, lightweight and effective anti-virus software that can be installed on XP, Vista and 7 systems which have been validated as genuine copies. Remember that Microsoft used to sell it's OneCare product? Well, MSE replaces OneCare. It is essentially OneCare, minus all the extra PC tune-up and backup stuff, i.e. MSE is just supposed to tackle viruses and spyware. It is built on the same foundation as OneCare.

MSE is a very interesting product, for if it really takes off, it could spell doom for the big-time security companies, namely Symantec (Norton) and McAfee. I mean, think about it: we're talking about a no cost, lightweight, hassle-free security solution which claims to provide very effective security for a worry-free PC experience. Microsoft says it gives the same level of protection as Microsoft's Forefront product for businesses. That's what many consumers want, isn't it? We all like to install our AV, then forget about it and let it take care of itself.

But that's where my worry is. Maybe it's just a human thing, but I do not feel secure when something is this good. When you download an installer that is less than 10MB and when something as important as an AV takes up so little computing resources, I just have that feeling that it's not good enough, that it only offers basic protection and is not as intensive as Norton, with all their complex detection technologies. So I'm not sure if I would trust MSE to protect my PC from all sorts of threats online; I guess only time will tell if MSE can be a replacement for Norton when it comes to solid PC protection. I'm a big fan of Norton Internet Security 09, because their protection is top-notch, and I always feel secure online. But with the simple UI of MSE and little options or settings, I just feel that it is inadequate.

So in conclusion, for the informed IT user who likes to muddle with settings and options, maybe MSE is not for you. I guess MSE is targeted at that ignorant user who knows nuts about anti-virus software but still want to stay secure. Also, it is catered towards developing countries where users do not want to fork out extra buck for security software. But I would assert that there is one last target audience: the netbook users. Yes, because MSE is so feather-light, it is an ideal AV solution on low-powered netbooks. But then again the whole question of 'is it good enough protection' arises. Only time will tell, but with this first release, the situation looks positive. Tests reveal that MSE is indeed quite effective... if I can trust MSE, then I will not renew my Norton subscription when it expires.

Internet Explorer 8 screenshots

Apple unlikely to do a netbook

Will Apple be launching a new netbook soon? I mean, almost every major computer manufacturer has one in its line-up. HP has the Mini 1000, Asus has the Eee PC, Acer has the Aspire One, Lenovo has the S10, Dell has the Mini 9, MSI has the Wind... you get the idea. Netbooks are the hottest computing trend now.

Sad to say, Apple is unlikely to jump on the bandwagon soon. It will not be releasing a MacBook mini or a netbook similar to what's on the market now.

Why is this so? Tim Cook, chief operating officer of Apple, said at a recent financial results conference call that "we're watching that space, but from our [point of view] the products are based on hardware that's much less powerful, software technology that's not good, cramped displays. We don't think that people are going to be pleased with those type of products. It's a category we watch, we have some ideas here, but we think the products there now are inferior and won't provide the kind of experience people want."

There you go, question answered. I don't think we will see any low-cost, mini laptop from Apple this year!

Darn!

Now my younger sister has a faster, cooler laptop than me!

Thurrott's Windows 7 FAQ

Windows guy Mr Paul Thurrott, over at his website, has published a useful Windows 7 FAQ. He mentions about some of the upcoming features to expect in this version of Windows, and even provides some interesting screenshots.

Note-worthy improvements are changes to make UAC more customisable (and hopefully less irritating), a new Solution Centre to replace Security Centre, new UI for the explorer, and a cool new "ribbon" version of MS Paint. Thurrott also talks about a ton of other minor improvements and additions, but I think we still have to wait for PDC for more news and confirmations.

Windows: life without walls

I have written about Vista's poor public image before, and a recent innovative advertising strategy Microsoft took to sell vista, called the Mojave Experiment.

Today, Microsoft has launched a new campaign to promote Vista, which is a stellar operating platform btw. It's called Windows: life without walls, and there are some print ads available, check it out:



The concept here is really interesting, cool and funky, but more than visual appearance, I think it really captures the essence of the "Vista life". Over this year, I've really come to embrace Vista fully, as a superb and dependable OS. And you should too. I use the Mac on a daily basis, and I know of swarms of friends who have recently "converted" to the Mac too, but you know what? Vista's as great... and this advertisement says it all: life without walls.

What Microsoft promises you are a plethora of choices to select from: both hardware and software. Unlike Macs, you are not tied down to a closed system of hardware. You can choose from a million computers on Windows from so many manufacturers, including tablet PCs, and configure them in almost any way you want (often cheaper than a Mac too). On the software side, Vista offers you so many configuration options and allows for personalisation of your desktop more than the OS X does. It has awesome multimedia capabilities with Windows Media Centre, and coupled with Windows Live and the new suite of "Wave 3" software, you will be connected with friends like never before. Windows Live is a huge part of the Windows ecosystem, and exemplifies Microsoft's "Software + Services" approach as a stepping stone toward full cloud computing. Not to mention Vista is also the platform for the amazing Zune music player, which I've heard (and strongly believe) is the better device over the iPod for pure music enthusiasts.

This is what you should know about Vista. Not the lies that the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads churn out, not the BSODs, or the incompatibility, or the horror stories you hear when Vista first shipped. All that's changed dramatically... no longer do I scorn on PCs the way I did 2 years ago. I have two systems running Vista at home, and use them as often as the Mac. I'm proud to be a PC user!

Toshiba Satellite Pro L300 first looks

As part of my team's win in the international ThinkQuest website design competition, we each received a laptop from Oracle! This 700USD laptop is a Toshiba Satellite Pro L300, a 15.4 inch widescreen business machine.


The model name is a bit of a misnomer... although is says 'pro', the truth is this is a simple, no frills, budget notebook. But don't get me wrong, the L300 is an affordable and serious machine with respectable features for its price.

But first, this is how it looks: grey lid, un-funky colours, very typical business laptop...












The L300 retails with a variety of technical configurations, including an AMD version (yuck) and the normal Intel chips. My model is an Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.0GHz, with a standard 1GB 667MHz RAM, standard 160GB 5400rpm HDD, and lousy integrated graphics that I can't even remember.

On the Windows Experience Index, the L300 had a (pathetic) lowest subscore of 3.0, thanks to the graphics chipset which won't run Aero well. The harddisk yielded the best subscore of 5.2, while processor got a 4.9. I'll be upgrading this thing to 3GB RAM soon; 1GB is anything but sufficient.

Nonetheless, there are some positive things about this machine. Firstly, the 15.4 inch widescreen is one of the better ones I've seen for this price range. It's big, bright and clear, making it absolutely gorgeous to view photos. There is also a SD/memory stick card slot in front! And it is blessed with 3 USB ports, a well designed keyboard and a DVD RW drive.

Battery life is average at around 3 hours, and so is its weight. While it doesn't feel heavy like stone, it is not very light either. You wouldn't want to use this as a mobile road warrior, as it is quite big in size, but I can imagine this on the office table for general usage. When I start to nitpick, I would wish this was much thinner, the screen less thick, and the mouse button less stiff. Other than that, this is your standard laptop but with solid construction, good ergonomics and some very useful features.



On the software side, this L300 came pre-installed with Vista Business edition, which is the right way to go. Although Toshiba offers an XP Pro version, I think Vista is the future and everyone should run Vista. It's more secure, has more functionality, and from an aesthetics standpoint, more eye-candy.

What I wasn't too pleased about was the preloaded junk programs. The Toshiba DVD software stuff is fine, but what isn't fine is Picasa 2 photo editing software (I'll never use that), the Google Desktop search and toolbar in IE, and some other crap that I can't remember. This is bad... these unnecessary software clutter up the machine, take up disk space, slow down performance, and I won't use those programs!! It also does come with Norton 360 60 day trial, which is more acceptable since I'd want to use that, and also Office 07, which is fine too, but apart from that, the other bloatware isn't acceptable! Toshiba should learn from Sony and allow customers to opt out of these software and just have the OS installed.

You might feel differently about the extra software, and you may like it for the added functionality out of the box, but not for me. I like to install what I want to use. But overall, this is a truly utilitarian laptop, not outstanding but gets the job done. And for the low asking price, this is perhaps one of the better 15 inch widescreen business notebooks around.

Strictly NOT for gaming!

Google android phone

I read on the iToday app on my iPod touch that the first Google Android phone will debut on September 23. The open source phone OS will run on a HTC phone. I took a screenshot of the article:



Google is essentially taking on the Windows Mobile approach, where software will run on various phone manufacturer's hardware. This is in contrast to Apple, which makes both software and also the hardware. This is interesting, and is highly anticipated as the alternative to the iPhone... more soon!

Improvements to Live Hotmail

For all those people who use Hotmail on a daily basis, you'd be pleased to know that Microsoft will be updating it in the coming weeks. The changes include a cleaner interface, and most of all, faster loading time. Great!

Apple's deceptive iPhone 3G advertising

This video is excellent! It shows a comparison between the iPhone 3G data load times in Apple's ad, against real world usage in the US.  Boy, the difference is enormous.  Apple's deceptive marketing tactics... and AT&T's inferior 3G networks... enjoy.

iPod touch 2G has bluetooth chip

According to iFixit, they disassembled a new iPod touch 2G and found out it has a Broadcom BCM4325 bluetooth chipset! It supports bluetooth 2.1 + EDR!

Now apple didn't say anything about that! This shocking discovery raises the immediate possibility that bluetooth could feature in the 2.2 software update, but no confirmation from Apple on that. If this is true, bluetooth headphones could be paired up with the iPod touch.

However, I think this is rather unlikely. To me, it is more a case of inheriting the iPhone 3G's hardware, since both devices technically run on the same electrical parts and circuitry. Thus bluetooth is there, but Apple doesn't plan to 'activiate' it as the iPhone would then lose its bluetooth advantage over the touch.

Update:
As of June 2009, bluetooth has been unlocked on 2G iPod touch with iPod software update 3.0!
(Not applicable for 1G owners)