Yea, Norton Corperate edition is SOOOOOO worth the extra cred. i forced my company to buy it. it's what allows me to have remote access and controll over all the individual copies of norton running on every individual's machine, and it's what lets me recieve notice when someone is doing something that they shouldn't be. it was a bitch to install, no lie there, and the individual updates still don't work right on half the computers (i haven't taken the hour each to set it up, but it is on my list of things to do) but it's running, and the ones that 'sweep' the network, yea, that's a feature of corperate edition too. (and thoes ones are running updated virus defenitions) mostly, the end result is that the corperate edition is 'managable' the home edition is 'stand alone' it's actually the same program, just more controll, and if you know what you are doing, it works better with more controll.
bottom line between norton and mcaffee is almost identical. if you had two systems with the same virus, norton would find and stop it, and mcaffee would find and stop it. basicly it comes down to what you are comfortable with. if you know how to set up mcaffee correctly, it'll do a better job, if you know how to set up norton correctly, it'll do a better job. if you could set them bouth up correctly, then norton is a little faster on their responce time, but mcaffee is a little less expencive. more cost = more service. at my work that bill goes to someone else, and not my bank account, so i had them shell out the extra cred for it. (i'm lucky in that i'm totally badass, and the boss will do anything i tell him to with the comptuers, because i never do anything wrong.) (i've actually done stuff wrong, but i fixed it, and it was long ago, when i was 7 and still learning how to work this stuff)
systemworks does what it's suppose to do. it makes your system more stable. it will examine your windows install, and fix the things that are causeing memory leaks, lost clusters, wasted space, and general cleanup. it's not really necessary. i could do the same work that norton systemworks does by hand, but it would take me about 10 hours pr. machine. (ocasionally i have to do it anyways, but i do have other things to do) systemworks will run, by it's self, and 'tidy up' a system, clean out the registry, defrag the hard drive, optimize the swap space, etc. and it'll take about two hours to do it. and i don't have to be there watching it while it does.
is it hard to install? you bet your hoop it is. with any program that is THAT integrated into the system, it'll be hard to get rid of. think of it this way though, your OS has to run every peace of software you throw at it, but it dosn't have to do a good job of it. Norton has to be able to go in and fine tune each program with each of the random ways that they infringe on the system kernal, and while letting them continue to run, make it so that they play nicely with the other programs that are installed. that's a very in depth and integrated process. takes quite a bit of looking into and understanding of how the machine works, and how the OS works, and how every program works and how they all work together, and how what one program does effects all the other programs, and what you can do to make the programs work better, so, not only is norton re-writeing your OS, but it's rewriteing your internet browser, your video games, your network, your virus scanning software (even if it's not norton's own software) and everything else.
now, if he had problems with it i can automaticly tell you several things:
1) he was running an outdated copy OR a pirated copy.
2) he was trying to do several things at once, like update the system with system updates, while flashing the bios and running an adware scan.
norton systemworks is 'polish' it isn't a trencher. after your system is set up, and updated, and everything is copasetic, you run systemworks when everything is perfect, and it'll make things more perfect. you have it do that, and it'll make your system so stable that you can run a system constantly (without ever shutting it off) for months at a time. pretty good considering that XP will crash on it's own if you leave it running for three days solid, and not do anything to it. (yea, that dam screensaver and power-plus mode will kill a system every time if you don't set them up right)
i think the biggest problem comes from people trying to get norton to fix things it can't. if your system has a virus and a ton of spyware, norton systemworks will die a horrable screaming death. it's like trying to cure cancer by putting a bandaid on it. even if that is the most amazing bandaid, with quadruple strenght antibiotics, and nanobots, it won't cure cancer. you have to use it for what it's ment for, something to run in the background every now and again to keep your system running, and keep downtime to a minimum.
*shrug* however, i'm not going to say that your system admin is retarded for not likeing it. if he's a system admin he probibly knows what he's doing. and perhaps he likes takeing the system registry apart by hand (it's kinda a power trip) and he can probibly do a better job than norton, (norton is just an automation after all, and nothing will work as well as a human mind for fixing problems) however, i use it to save time. and on my own computer i do edit my own registry, and my system does run better than everyone elses, but i put more time into it, and i have more controll over it. if i did that to everyone, it would work better, but i'd be there 24/7, and i'd have no time to fix or play with my new (to me) red corvette.
-RuskiFace the Pirate
