They're practically identical in price, so picking which one to buy is tough, for sure.
When you look at Kaspersky's better performance in four of our six most important security sub-categories, including a perfect score for Antivirus Updates, picking a winner gets a lot easier.
A clear win for Kaspersky.
Category II: Additional Security Features
Web Protection
99
98
Chat/IM Protection
79
0
Email Protection
90
0
Winner: Norton Antivirus Software 2012
Kaspersky trumps Norton in chat and email protection; Norton edges out Kaspersky with better web protection.
Not a landslide, but another category win for Kaspersky.
Category III: Other Usability Factors
Installation
100
93
Uninstallation
75
95
Resource Usage
90
81
User Interface
86
80
Technical Support
70
60
Winner: Norton Antivirus Software 2012
Its better interface and tech support are the main reasons for Kaspersky's win here in Category III.
Sure, Norton does have better resource usage and an absolutely stellar installer, but Kaspersky is no slouch in either category.
So, when we totaled the scores, we saw another Kaspersky win.
Conclusion:
vs.
With better performance in our Virus & Spyware category, a landslide in Additional Security Features, and a better showing in Usability meant an easy, solid win for Kaspersky.
Yes, Norton did better in both our Real-time Protection and Resource Usage tests, so if those are the most important things to you, Norton may be a good choice.
Make no mistake, Norton is good software, it's just that when you compare it with Kaspersky, Kaspersky really does seem to offer more complete protection. And after all, it is $.04 less.
