Symantec has announced a revamped line of products built for Mac OS X: Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh 8.0, Norton Personal Firewall for Mac OS 2.0, Norton Internet Security for Macintosh 2.0, Norton Utilities for Macintosh 7.0 and Norton SystemWorks for Macintosh 2.0.
Norton AntiVirus 8.0 provides Auto Protect, SafeZone scanning and repair, LiveUpdate scheduling via Norton Scheduler and command line scanning. The Universal Safezone feature is for all mounted disks, David Loomstein, Symantec’s group product manager, Consumer & Client Product Delivery, told MacCentral.
Norton Personal Firewall for Macintosh 2.0, designed to protect your Mac from unauthorized access, includes a new stealth mode that makes computers invisible to hackers on the Internet. Other new additions are Active FTP, which lets you securely download files behind the firewall, and a Self Test (via Symantec’s Web site) that provides extra assurance that your connection is secure.
Personal Firewall also automatically handles FTP transfers. All these features are Mac OS X 10.1 only, Loomstein said.
Norton Internet Security for Macintosh 2.0 is a product suite designed to safeguard Mac users from a variety of Internet threats. Version 2.0 includes Norton Privacy Control — a new module — to prevent confidential info such as credit card and social security numbers from being sent out without your permission.
Version 2.0 also adds the ability to limit online flash advertising. “It blocks 80 to 90 percent of ad protocols,” Loomstein said. “It blocks banner ads and popup ads, so speeds up your browser.”
In addition, Norton Internet Security 2.0 offers Norton Personal Firewall for Macintosh 2.0, Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh 8.0, and iClean 4.0 by Aladdin Systems.
Norton Utilities for Macintosh lets you repair and optimize disks, recover lost data and prevent future problems. The latest version of the Mac utility is the first product to offer comprehensive native disk repair and data recovery for Mac OS X, Loomstein said. Norton Utilities 7.0 is also the only Mac OS X native utility that can recover lost files and erased data through saved volume information, he added. Another feature unique to the update is the ability to recover crashed or accidentally initialized volumes natively on Mac OS X.
The FileSave component of Utilities, besides being Mac OS X native, also includes directory updates. You’ll also be able to use a new Norton Scheduler for OS X. Norton Utilities will ship with a bootable CD for emergencies.
Norton SystemWorks for Macintosh 2.0 is an integrated tool for keeping your Mac up to snuff by solving critical problems and keeping systems safe from viruses. The suite includes Norton Utilities for Macintosh 7.0, Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh 8.0, Dantz Retrospect Express Backup 5.0 and Aladdin Spring Cleaning 4.0. All apps in the suite are natively compatible with Mac OS X and that includes Retrospect Backup, Loomstein said.
Norton AntiVirus 8.0 and Norton Personal Firewall will be available for an estimated retail price of US$69.95 each, with an upgrade price of $39.95. Norton Internet Security 2.0 will be $99.95. Current Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh, Open Door DoorStop, Aladdin Spring Cleaning, Aladdin iClean, Intego NetBarrier, Intego Virus Barrier, and McAfee Virex users will be able to upgrade for $69.95.
Norton Utilities 7.0 will cost $99.95. Current Utilities owners can upgrade for $49.95. Norton SystemWorks 2.0 will carry a price tag of $129.95. Current users of Norton Utilities, AntiVirus, Spring Cleaning and Retrospect can upgrade for $79.95.
All the products can be preordered at Symantec’s online store. The new versions of Internet Security, Personal Firewall and AntiVirus are due to ship later this month. The updates of Utilities and SystemWorks are slated for next month.
All the products work with Mac OS 8.1 through 9.x (with the appropriate CarbonLib extensions installed), as well as Mac OS X. They’ll be available in English, Japanese, French, German and Italian.