Jul 9 2003
Norton SystemWorks 3 by Symantec
Well, the confident blonde fellow is no longer on the box, but Norton still packs a mean punch. Whether it be fighting off a deadly virus or recovering a corrupted hard drive, the power is still there and better than ever.
This new version includes the latest Norton AntiVirus 9 and Norton Utilities 8 which boast must-have improvements for OS X users. AntiVirus now identifies and eliminates Mac and PC viruses, which should finally get that IT guy off you back for good. Utilities now can defragment files in the background and includes an OS X boot disk for heavy duty repairs.
The SystemWorks suite provides you with a handy launcher for AntiVirus, Utilities and all their friends. There’s also a new menu item that allows you to toggle AntiVirus’ auto-protect feature on and off. Norton Scheduler can check for updates, update your FileSaver profile and scan your disk all while you sleep.
Now matured for OS X, Norton Utilities has the familiar suite of utilities, with a few enhancements. While there isn’t a lot new here, the most valuable new feature is the fact that it is OS X native. The emergency boot disk boots in OS 9 and X in your native operating system.
Norton AntiVirus’ new, ever-present Auto-Protect feature eliminates the need to scan your hard drive. It can put a little drag on your system, and distract you as it scans media as it mounts. Fortunately it is easy to toggle Auto-Protect on and off. This will be especially useful for hard working Mac that need a break from background tasks for hefty video or rendering work.
The disappointment is in the lack of new OS X-specific utilities. I should say that you can run an AntiVirus scan from the command line, but beyond that there isn’t anything that looks after the UNIX complexities of OS X.
And it is likely that most of the viruses snagged by AntiVirus will be PC ones, as the impending threat of new Mac viruses has fizzled. But, for those of you on mixed networks, this will stop you from passing the viruses on or providing them safe harbor on your system.
As an added bonus, SystemWorks comes with full versions of Aladdin’s Spring Cleaning 5 and Retrospect Express 5 from Dantz. These solutions free up disk space and backup your data. For more on Spring Cleaning, check out my review of version 6.
For the price, this is a great bunch of utilities. For OS X users, it is a very tempting upgrade. Though there isn’t much new here, you’ll be hard pressed to find tools of this caliber anywhere else.
Norton SystemWorks 3
MSRP: $129.95
Norton Utilities 8 and Norton AntiVirus 9 are available separately for $99.95 and $69.95 respectively.
