2013 Antivirus Software Reviews

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Norton Antivirus Software 2013 Overall Score: 91%

Norton's 2013 Antivirus Software is a good product with a reputable name. It simply excels in protecting against real-time threats and removing stubborn viruses.

It also installs in no time at all, the fastest of all of all we've tested.

However, its user interface relies too heavily on animation and lacks graphics cohesion.

It's also weak on extra features when compared to the competition.

Certified by:

• VB Bulletin
• AV Comparatives
• Anti-Malware Test Lab
• PC Security Labs
• AV-Test

Last year, Norton made significant advances in all aspects of virus protection and is again a strong competitor in this area in 2013.

Norton is especially effective at removing stubborn, buried viruses.

Still, it did miss some threats here and there and does not include antiphishing so we still see room to improve.
Norton's system usage is average, which is good, especially considering where they once were.

During normal usage when running idle, we it used about 65% of memory, and only 1% of CPU.

During a full-system manual scan, it used 51% of CPU and 70% of memory.
Norton's user interface is clean and modern. However, we also found it inconsistent.

One screen often didn't look like it related to the next, graphically.

We also found some of the options confusing. Some of the functions sound big and impressive, but their purpose was unclear.
Norton has room for improvement with its technical support.

The support button in the interface launches a new window that scans your computer to assess your problem. Unfortunately, this was glitchy in our tests and so we had no way to directly contact technical support via that option.

Norton offers limited free support through their website via chat, forums and FAQs. However, for any real solutions (such as virus removal, tune-up, or installation, etc) you'll need to pay. Norton's paid services have multiple tiers ranging from a one-time fix of $4.99 (for troubleshooting and tune-up only — not really a "fix"), to $19.99/month for actual virus removal.

We had a very tough time when we called their support. Getting the support representivite to give us accurate and basic information seemed very difficult for them, and left us with very little confidence in their services.

We strongly prefer free support or at least easier to understand paid service options.
Norton automatically downloads updates, but you can choose how it's done:

• Pulse Updates — small and fast important updates.
• Automatic Live Updates — full and complete updates.
• Smart Definitions — small, but vital updates only.

This is a great option for those dealing with slow connections, but these days most people have broadband connections making this irrelevant.
Norton AntiVirus does not offer a lot in extra features, though there are a few we really like:

Email Protection scans both incoming and outgoing email for an email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird with the same scrutiny Norton scans your system. This is a rare feature for antivirus software.

System speed wasn't really an issue for typical emails and attachments. Unfortunately it does not scan webmail accounts such as Hotmail, Yahoo Mail or GMail.

Chat Protection scans all major chat clients such as MSN/Live Messenger, Yahoo!, AOL, and Trillian.

Again a rare feature for basic antivirus products.

Safe Web scans your Facebook news feed for dangerous links, infected downloads and unsafe websites.

Norton has come a long way in recent years. They've improved their speed and protection capabilities.

This year it performed quite well in our tests, especially in virus removal.

However, the user interface needs cleaning up and clarification.

Customer services could be improved upon to be truly competitive.

Overall, we recommend Norton and commend it's recent commitment to improvement.