NEW YORK -- Oct. 25, 2001 -- Today at the worldwide launch of the Windows® XP operating system in New York City, PNY Technologies Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Symantec Corp. announced that consumers can get a free memory upgrade and anti-virus software when they get Microsoft® Windows XP Professional. Consumers who acquire Windows XP Professional will receive a PNY 256MB PC-133 SDRAM memory module free after mail-in rebate and Symantec's new Norton AntiVirus 2002 software from Best Buy Company Inc., CompUSA Inc., Office Depot Inc. and Staples Inc. retail stores. Valued at $129.98, the promotion is scheduled to run during select periods from Oct. 25, 2001, to Jan. 31, 2002. "PNY is pleased to be aligned with Microsoft and our channel resellers in this year's most exciting computer-related event," said Anthony Gomez, vice president of channel sales and marketing for PNY. "We are committed to being at the forefront of this new technology with our high-quality memory products. Consumers who acquire Windows XP Professional will boost the performance of this new powerhouse operating system with PNY's 256 MB memory and Symantec's new Norton AntiVirus 2002 software. The combination of PNY memory, Symantec software and Microsoft Windows XP Professional will provide users with a highly efficient solution for their computing needs." "Today's launch of Windows XP will enable users to fully unlock the potential of their PCs and networked systems at work and home," said Jim Allchin, group vice president of the Platforms Group at Microsoft. "Business and power PC users will benefit from PNY's high-quality 256MB memory upgrade value-added promotion that includes Symantec's powerful anti-virus software." "When it comes to memory upgrades to meet the high-performance needs of Windows XP, we have our customers covered," said David Figler, director of merchandising at Staples. "Whether it's giving the everyday user 128 MB of memory free after the mail-in rebate when they get the Home Edition or offering small businesses and advanced users 256 MB of memory free after the mail-in rebate from the Professional edition, we're excited to provide the power for the new computing standard to our customers with PNY and Microsoft." Windows XP is the next version of Windows, and it has a brand-new look. Built on an enhanced Windows 2000 engine, it enables exciting new experiences that give users the freedom to unlock the possibilities of the digital world. Windows XP extends the role of the PC by acting as an integration point to the Web, in the home, on the move and at work. Windows XP makes end-to-end scenarios -- such as photography and music -- intuitive and dependable.
I have to agree with the article, I've always been able to find anything I need software wise at Staples, for a good price too.
Not to spread FUD, but I didn't have an opinion on Norton Antivirus until I'd worked with organizations that relied heavily on NAV. Let's just say they got many, many viruses over time. Norton would simply notify the managment console, "Virus detected, darn guess you're screwed, huh?". It was almost never proactive in containment. I fail to see the usefullness in that. Also, Norton has been known to cause problems with other antivirii that are installed post-norton. I guess Symantec learned a few dirty tricks from Microsoft... If I had to recommend an antivirus from experience, I'd say Trend Micro's PC-Cillin. I've never seen anybody with a properly configured PC-Cillin AV get infected. Also, it's got a built in firewall that's pretty decent, and pattern updates come about 5x faster than with NAV. IMHO, it's the only AV for Win32 that's worth paying for. </end FUD> P.S. - Big B, I definately agree about the PNY RAM
Anti-trend: I have PC-Cillin 2002 (it came with my motherboard) but I tried to install it once and it slowed down my system a lot, so I uninstalled it. At that time, I had a Athlon XP 2000+ on a Soltek 75DRV5-C (KT333) with 256 mb of DDR333 RAM. Have you ever encountered the same problem with it ?
To be honest, any antivirus that actively scans everything that is passed into the memory layer will slow down your PC noticeably, unless perhaps you have a multi-processor machine. However, I believe the reason your slowdowns were so excessive is that you were limited to 256mb RAM with WinXP, and 256k L2. XP really prefers 256mb just to run normally (contrasted with W2k, which only needs 64mb and prefers 128). My aging file server has only 256mb of PC133, and a 500MHz processor. Suprisingly enough it runs fairly fast with PCC2003. I think the 512k L2 cache on the CPU has a lot to do with it. Some people I recently set up with a Barton core 2500+ system and PC-Cillin 2003 can't even notice the speed difference with the antivirus on or off.
Disclaimer: I'm not a Trend-Micro fanboy or an anti-Symantec zealot, so please regard the following with that in mind. I don't have any benchmarks or anything comparing the realtime scan performance of NAV vs PCC, and I really can't say from experience which is faster. I've never run NAV on any of my local PCs, just worked with it extensively, and yes, those points are related. The only thing I can really attest to is the ineffectualness of NAV itself to actually stop viruses in the wild. In my experience, NAV has had a super-nasty habit of detecting a virus after it's already executed and infected several other files. Symantec later releases fixes to help undo the damage the virus has already done. IMHO, NAV's speed is a moot point if it can't always (or even 'often') get the job done. As for me, give me the fastest performing AV that keeps me protected consistently. I'm not saying that after your system has been thoroughly manually scanned for preexisting viruses, you shouldn't disable the realtime scanning before playing a game. On the contrary. Because performance is an issue for me too, I don't use any antivirae on my workstations at all. Only my file server uses an antivirus, and that's PC-Cillin 2003. There's also a laptop that runs it. Otherwise, my overall security relies solely on routers, security polocies, cautious email and javascript rules, and common sense to keep my network safe and clean. Make of that what you will... </end novel>
Well I wasn't bragging about NAV. But the fact of the matter is that PC-Cillin 2002 was making a 2000+/256mb DDR333 system slow. And I'm not talking about a few fps. I'm talking about internet explorer and outlook express. I might try it again though, just to see what happens. right now I don't even have an anti-virus. what I do is I don't install any fishy software, I don't have the "click yes" syndrome when I go on the net, I don't open attachments when I don't know what they are exactly (even from people I know) and I'm behind a firewall. And last but not least - the safest way to make sure your system won't be screwed up, ever - I am the only one who uses this computer. I don't even want my father to touch it, even though he has many years of experience in computers. that's how paranoid I am
Well, there's always Housecall. It's a free web-based scan engine that you can use for periodic checkups, or (may it never be! ) for disinfection. That saved my bacon when my wife's PC was infected with a few java bugs some time ago.