McAfee vs. Norton

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Difference between McAfee and Norton

The evolution of the Internet has opened many doors of opportunities to businessmen and job seekers alike. Information seekers, researchers and social surfers rely on the web to supply them with the much needed knowledge they require. All in all, the Internet has become an essential part of our daily lives. A lot of people have become empowered but at the same time, opportunity grabbers like hackers and information stealers have also emerged. To protect us from unwanted data loss and theft, developers have invented anti-virus software and two of the most popular names in the industry are McAfee and Norton.

McAfee
Norton

Real-time Protection

McAfee has created a name that is consistent and trusted among anti-virus softwares. But the one thing that gives them a downward pull is their performance when it comes to real-time protection. They have yet to successfully update their programs to prevent small viruses from slipping through their scans.

Norton has a real-time virus protection that equals any other brands out there. It is still recommended by a lot of PC experts. However, the downfall of this anti-virus is that it eats up a lot of PC resources making the performance of a computer slower than usual. This is because their improved real-time security has a very heavy footprint which is not recommended for all PCs.

User Interface

McAfee is popularly known for its simple and plain user interface. But even as simple as it may look, the important thing is that it does its job when it comes to PC protection. The interface of this software is very easy to use and understand. You don’t even need a manual to start operating the program.

Norton, on the other hand, presents a very complicated user interface. Even if all the links are displayed in front of you, once you start clicking these links more navigation links appear. This gives users a hard time mastering the controls and can be oftentimes confusing.

Install / Uninstall Process

The installation or uninstall process of McAfee is very simple and fast. Depending on the PC specifications, you can install or uninstall the program in a couple of minutes. Also, the install and uninstall wizard of McAfee guides the users on what to do for a smooth install / uninstall process. Similar to McAfee, Norton also has an installation wizard to guide the user when using the program. Typically, it takes a couple of minutes to install the anti-virus, but the problem lies in the uninstall process. Not all elements of the software are removed, and you have to delete or uninstall them one by one.

Summary

  • McAfee begs for improvement when it comes to their real-time protection for the PC. Norton does its job with real time PC protection but they should streamline their system to prevent it from eating up too many resources.
  • McAfee has a very simple user interface. Norton has a simple interface on the outside, but when you click on links, complications start.
  • McAfee can be easily installed / uninstalled. Norton can be easily installed, but you have to uninstall some of its components manually.

Which antivirus product is better?
  • McAfee
  • Norton
 
 

Discuss It: comments 2

  • Guest
  • Brent wrote on April 2010

I'm not a Norton fanboy, and like most people, I have avoided it for years due to its high system resources. However, with the new 2009 and 2010 versions and 360 V3, it is the best performing paid antivirus software on the market. I have tested all of the 2010 antivirus software on my **** laptop with 256MB ram and a 1.3 ghz Celeron processor, and Norton is the best performing.

  • Guest
  • Lisa wrote on April 2010

I had McAfee for about a year from Comcast. I can tell you one thing, this is the most annoying anti virus I have seen so far, it pop's up with alerts every now and then, ask you to restart computer every time, are we in the 2000s?. I am so glad Comcast switched over to Norton.

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