Both Symantec and McAfee are in an 'Arms Race' in the PC security market according to a report by The New York Times.McAfee has been trying to dethrone Symantec, which currently holds 52% of the consumer market share compared to McAfee's 18% market share. This market share varies when you include corporate and business use. Unfortunately, for McAfee, they've been facing a decade of legal and accounting problems that left it in poor competitive shape, and employee morale low. Things aren't any better in the revenue department. Symantec made $1.8 billion in revenue last year, compared to $624 million in revenue for McAfee.
However, McAfee is fighting back. They've been aggressively trying to get deals with PC makers, and now that the company has David G. DeWalt as the new head of sales, they have expanded beyond anti virus software, acquired some security players and increased sales to consumers and large businesses. HP, the world's largest computer seller, currently has an exclusive deal with Symantec on its consumer PC's, but Mr. DeWalt said that deal could be up for bid within the next year.
"They didn't have much competition back then, but they will this time.", says Mr. DeWalt. However, Enrique T. Salem, the chief executive of Symantec, shrugged off his statement. "I love the rhetoric and the chest-pounding," he said.
However, both companies have been fighting off competition from free alternatives like AVG, Avast, and Avira. Just recently, Microsoft released a beta of their new Security Essentials software that includes anti-virus protection. Just recently, Symantec made a statement claiming that it's dangerous to rely on free antivirus.
Image Credit: Gartner, overview of whole PC security market, not just consumer.
I commend Symantec for listening to their customers and re-engineering their products to be lighter. McAfee needs to do the same.
I've never had problems with the speed of Symantec (been using it since SystemWorks 2), but it has only gotten better.
I also remember when my workplace was using McAfee, that was a disaster. It would install the firewall, even when you don't have a product key for it, and then nag you about it.
I commend Symantec for listening to their customers and re-engineering their products to be lighter. McAfee needs to do the same.
Your 100% correct, I've been using Norton Internet Security on my computer for almost a year now, It has prevented ALL attempted security breaches, and not to say that not one virus has even gotten on my PC, on the other hand, my parents use the Internet Security our ISP offers, McAfee, I tell you guys what, that piece of software is nothing but bloat, it bogs the systems sources and is no where near reliable on keeping viruses off of your system. I can't even tell you how many times I've had to restore my parents computer because of Viruses :| And if that's bad enough, their computer has a Intel Quad processor, and my Athlon x2 runs a hell of a lot better than theirs, and its all because of McAfee, in sum it all up, Norton is a far superior Security Suite.
From previous experiences with Norton products (~'02-'05), each version seemed to add more bloat, and reviews were always VERY critical of how Norton loved to hog resources. But that all changed in the '09 version (which was not just a version number change
An experienced user like myself can fiddle with all the various settings, but the basic interface could be used by a child. It really is amazing - congrats to Symantec for making such a good product
I said the same thing, then I trialed NAV 2009 when I was looking for a replacement to what I previously had. It's amazingly light on resources, efficient, and problem free. I think I've checked Help/About a few times to confirm it is in fact a Symantec/Norton product!
I'd recommend NAV 2009 to anyone.
I have found nothing of fault with NIS 09, it kicks the pants off McAfee security center 07/08 or w/eva that I had been using for the past 15 months.
Sad.
plenty of people do. If you live on a plot of land with your house way off the road, why bother to secure the wireless network.
i hate Symantec.
I question your claim that ESET is the lightest on the market. Norton idles around 18 mb for me, and Avira takes around 7 mb with only guard on. NOD32, the last I checked, used >30 mb
After months of using NIS 2009 I am still happy with it, it's invisible yet powerful. I stopped using their products around 2002 with Systemworks.
If you want cheap and legit protection for just one PC though, find an online retailer selling a 12 month OEM version (no diff to retail except almost nil packaging), and bundle it with a USB stick or something to satisfy the "must be purchased with new hardware/system only" condition
On the other hand, I started to recommend Kaspersky over them and NOD32 and those same people from time to time came back for maintenance and their PC's are totally clean.
Not to bash them just for the sake it, but i think Kaspersky has a better product than the others right now. Norton 2009 versions are good enough but not up to par with Kaspersky. At least in my personal experience.
I haven't tried or seen computers here with Avira or AVG, so i can't talk about them.
I did get a chance to test out the demo version of norton internet security 2009 on my neighbor's xp computer next door and that one was certainly faster than older versions of the norton internet security software I've tested.
I have tried McAfee, I just didn't like it.
That was in 1996.
If PC sellers wish to bundle McAfee then McAfee need to produce a superior product.
I only run AV software on my companies computers because there is an expectation (by directors) to see such garbage.
Basic precautions prevent most malicious code - like using Firefox, Windows Firewall, (MPV) Hosts file (can prevent ads too) CCleaner (Free), occasionally running Malware Bytes (Free) to be sure you are clean, and making sure basic firewall function are enabled on the router.
PC's, and the O/S have become far too complicated for their own good, subscription AV programs just the same, they all suck, and now don't even give decent information on their web sites. may they all rot in hell!
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