2012 Antivirus Software Reviews

Norton Antivirus Software 2012

With the latest version of Norton Antivirus, version 2012, gone are the days of bloated, sluggish, bolted-on antivirus protection that Norton got a reputation for even a few years ago.

While Norton is still behind the pack in some areas, like overall usability and integration of various parts of the user interface, their core antivirus protection has improved significantly this year, offering some of the best overall protection (particularly against brand new viruses) of any software we tested.

On the strong side, Norton stopped nearly all of the zero-day threats during testing, which we were thrilled to see. It was also one of the most effective in removing stubborn, embedded viruses. Not always an easy task.

On the interface front, it's better this year than the 2011 version, but it's still full of animation and lacks cohesiveness in some parts. There are a few different screens to navigate through that each have different looking switches, buttons, and links.

Another thing worth mentioning is the installer. Norton's installer is incredibly fast, and really one of a kind. It's so good, we can't believe everyone doesn't copy it (especially McAfee for whom installation is a real sore spot and who has the resources to do it.)

Add a few decent extra features like Email and IM Protection, and Norton AntiVirus again becomes software really worth a close look.
Norton narrowed the gap significantly in nearly all areas of protection with the 2012 version. In many areas, it's again as effective against viruses as competitors who just last year were light years ahead.

It's good to see Norton is taking this as seriously as they have the software's speed.

All of Norton's core antivirus software protection features have been certified by the major testing labs around the world:

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

During our testing, Norton AntiVirus 2012 performed best against stubborn virus, removing many that liked to bury themselves deeply in the computer and were taking steps to prevent removal by antivirus software.

While still not perfect overall, Norton's scores against threats speak for themselves. It missed some threats here and there, and with no antiphishing in this antivirus software, Norton AntiVirus 2012 has some room to grow for overall PC protection. But it's once again software to consider.
Comparing system resource usage with its competitors, Norton AntiVirus 2012 was average. "Average" may not sound impressive 'til you consider two things: 1. what it once was and 2. even average among the other top antivirus programs is actually pretty darned good.

During normal, every-day usage when running idle, we saw Norton using about 65% of memory, and only 1% of CPU across our test systems.

During a full-system manual scan, Norton used 51% of CPU, and 70% of memory. Both of these numbers are actually quite a bit better than we expected and better than Kaspersky, which has always been among the best.
Norton's user interface (UI) is clean, modern looking, and easy enough to use for the most part.

One thing we disliked was the mismatched interfaces within the overall user interface. Clicking from one screen to the next often presents different sets of buttons and switches. It looks as Symantec had different engineering teams building the different parts without talking to one another.

Norton also has some functions like "SONAR," or "Download Intelligence Detection," which sound great in marketing-speak, but whose purposes aren't entirely clear to the user. The name "SONAR," for instance, doesn't give you any obvious clues as to its purpose.

Overall, the user interface for Norton AntiVirus 2012 is modern, professional looking, and generally easy to use, but it lacks the feeling that it's all cut from the same cloth.
Clicking the support button in Norton AntiVirus 2012, launches a new window that scans your computer to help assess your support needs. At least that's the idea.

We experienced a glitch on some of our test PCs that made this feature nearly useless in our tests. And unfortunately, without this, there's no direct way to access Norton's technical support though the user interface, which means you'll need to go directly to their website for help.

Norton's support comes in two forms: free and paid. The free support is the typical array of options: chat, forums, FAQs, etc; however, if you need real help, like if you happen to get infected with a virus and need more serious technical assistance, it's going to cost you. $99 to be exact.

All phone support is done through their paid support system, which means if you can't find any self-help options to resolve your problem, and you need some serious help, you're either on your own, or you'll need to fork over $99.

For anyone who wants to avoid this is the optional Virus Removal Assurance. Purchased when you buy the software, it typically costs between $6-10 and gives you phone support and free virus removal if you later find you need it.

While it's still not free support, it is very inexpensive compared to the alternative. In short, if you're considering Norton, this option is worth it.
Virus definition updates are set to automatically download and install by default with Norton AntiVirus 2012. There are three layers of updates available: Pulse Updates, Automatic Live Updates, and Smart Definitions. Each has a specific purpose, but the bottom line is generally faster updates.

Norton updates work like this:

Pulse Updates

small and fast important updates

Automatic Live Updates

full and complete updates

Smart Definitions

small, but vital updates only

Ultimately, dividing updates like this is meant to as quickly as possible keep your PC protected against the latest threats.

For anyone on a dial-up or any other slower connection, this was a smart way to go for Symantec.

On the other hand, for people on broadband who could easily handle larger updates, the benefit becomes less clear since even large updates would only take a couple of minutes. Even still, it does let Norton get updates applied faster, which could mean all the difference in helping prevent a virus infection on your PC.
Norton AntiVirus 2012 is lean on extra features. That's fine with us. An antivirus software doesn't need a lot of bells and whistles, it just needs to be effective.

Nonetheless, Norton has a few notable extra features this year: their Email Protection, and IM Protection -- both of which are solid additions to your overall PC antivirus protection.

Very few antivirus software has true email protection default feature. Most antivirus software rely on their realtime antivirus engines to protect you against email-borne threats, but Symantec includes this in Norton Antivirus 2012. The email protection scans both incoming POP3 and outgoing SMTP mail as if you were running a full system scan, except of course it limits the scanning to new emails you're sending and receiving.

While it doesn't scan webmail accounts like Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or GMail, it does include pretty much any email client like Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird.

All-in-all, we like it. About the only time we saw a real slowdown to sending or receiving email was when we were dealing with large attachments or very large inboxes that had hundreds of new emails. Otherwise, it was barely perceptible to us, even on the least powerful PCs we test with, our little netbooks.
As with email protection, few basic antivirus programs offer true chat protection; most software relies on its "active" or realtime protection to prevent infection via chat software.

Norton is fairly unique in offering chat program protection. It works much the same as the email protection, except of course it's scanning your chat clients for virus activity.

Compatible with MSN/Live Messenger, Yahoo!, AOL, and even Trillian, it's a feature we like.
Norton AntiVirus 2012 has made several improvements this year. For starters, their previously bloated and sluggish antivirus software are now distant memories. While it's still not as lean as some of their competitors, it can't be called bloated anymore.

Next, their antivirus protection proved to be highly effective both in our tests and in the tests of other major labs.

It detected, blocked, and cleaned the majority of the virus and other threats we tested with, including nasty brand new "zero-day" viruses.

Finding and deleting deeply embedded threats was also one of Norton's strong suits.

What was lacking? The user interface still isn't as unified as it should be. Yes, it's sleek. Yes, it's polished to a high sheen, but that doesn't mean it's right. It still needs better integration and simplified language.

Getting customer service and tech support isn't as efficient as it should be. All of the standard self-help options like FAQs, forums, and chat are there, but phone support for serious problems (like virus removal) will cost you up to $99 with Norton unless you opt for the Virus Removal Assurance up front.

Ultimately, Norton AntiVirus 2012 stood up against some serious abuse in our testing and came out performing well. If you've been a fan of Norton in the past but avoided it in recent years, it's really time to reconsider it again. It's good software.