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 ZDNet > Reviews > Utility Software > Norton System Works |
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| Norton System Works Taking a cue from the success of Microsoft Office, Symantec has released Norton System Works 1.0 ($100 street), a bundle of five utilities: Norton AntiVirus (NAV), Norton CrashGuard, Norton Uninstall Deluxe, Norton Utilities, and Norton Web Services (for which you get a six-month subscription). Since CrashGuard and the Web Services subscription are bundled with Norton Utilities, it's more like a bundle of three packages; but even so, you pay 40 percent less than you would if you bought all of the individual products. Owners of any of the component products--or any of four of their leading competitors--can purchase Norton System Works for $69.
Except for NAV 5.0, which was recently released, the components of System Works are based on major versions that are six months to a year old. There is a single common install and uninstall, and you can make a single set of rescue disks that combines the ones that Norton AntiVirus and Norton Utilities normally make. Glue has been added in a few places. For example, if Norton System Doctor (part of Norton Utilities) discovers your free disk space running low, System Doctor offers to run the more thorough file cleanup from Uninstall Deluxe instead of the disk cleanup that is part of Norton Utilities. Integration, though, is lacking in some areas. For example, each component has Live Update, a way to check for program updates over the Web; the main System Works panel can launch a subpanel that places all the updates in one place, but there is no single button to check for updates to all the products at once. Instead you must separately launch an update for each product. And the suite places four different icons (for Crash Guard, NAV, System Doctor, and Uninstall) in the notification area instead of one. Norton System Works has an impressive array of features, including system monitoring and checking, crash protection, disk protection and defragging, registry editing and tracking, rescue disk, file cleanup, registry cleanup, install and uninstall monitoring, antivirus protection, and online tracking of third-party updates. Ironically, most missing from the collection are the kinds of file-organizing and desktop enhancements that made Norton Desktop the leading Windows 3.x utility. System Works is just the opening salvo in what is likely to be a drawn-out battle for your utility dollars. Symantec has said that it will be coming out with a professional version of System Works for power users. Network Associates--recent purchaser of CyberMedia (First Aid and Uninstaller), Dr. Solomon (Anti-Virus), and Helix (Nuts & Bolts) as well as the successor to antivirus maker McAfee--has announced plans to release a suite soon. And Mijenix, maker of PowerDesk and ZipMagic, is planning its own utility suite. Users will only gain from the competition and from the integration. Norton System Works 1.0. Requires: Microsoft Windows 95 or 98, 16MB RAM, 95MB disk space. Symantec Corp., Cupertino, CA; 800-441-7234; http://www.symantec.com/. |
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