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 Review: Norton SystemWorks for MacintoshWhen a pair of your old friends get married, what do you give them for a wedding gift? Well, after much deliberation we decided that the most appropriate gift for this couple--who have always seen us through thick and thin, who have helped us out of more jams than we'd care to remember over the years --the most appropriate gift was five Gs. I say "gift" here, but Symantec has truly *earned* a perfect score. We've wanted to give five Gs before, but never before has a product fit our stringent criteria to earn them. Norton SystemWorks for Macintosh is the first product to meet big g media's strict guidelines to earn five Gs, our highest rating. We've used both Norton Utilities and Norton AntiVirus (formerly SAM) for years in cleaning up our own Macs, in addition to those of everyone we've ever known. Like everything else, Disk Doctor used to fit on one floppy, but as time moved on, our little four-frame animated Peter Norton has stepped aside in favor of a more pleasant still graphic accompanying Disk Doctor's more populous graybar-land. Disk Doctor and it's accompanying Utilities (Speed Disk, UnErase, Volume Recover, Wipe Info, and System Info) are now accompanied by the powerful virus prevention and eradication tool (don't worry Melissa, we still love you) Norton AntiVirus, as well as the seemingly Sherlock 2 obsoleted Fast Find. Together they're problem solvers like your own personal Ghostbusters squad all on one CD, only not quite as funny, dangerous, or slimy. Fast Find was great back in the day when Find File was the only real other option, but today? It seems silly to see Fast Find still included. Maybe it's there for those who are still used to Fast Find and don't use Sherlock's advanced features? And what's with including Aladdin's Spring Cleaning? (Don't worry, you won't have to try to use it on itself, it doesn't install automatically) Ah well, welcome to Bloatville, population: us. We've lived here for a while anyway. Having Norton Antivirus and its LiveUpdate feature on the same CD as Norton Utilities is truly a godsend. I used to burn my own copies onto a composite disc, but nothing beats having it done for you. With LiveUpdate, not only can you update your virus definitions when you schedule them or on demand, but also update the rest of the Utilities to their latest revisions, much like Mac OS 9 users would the Software Update Control Panel. Symantec even includes Dantz' Retrospect Express, a sweet little backup automation utility (you wouldn't want to lose all those files Melissa led you to, would ya?). Finally, I really have to applaud Symantec for keeping its finger on the pulse, because SystemWorks even repairs disk and virus problems on the Mac OS X Public Beta. How's that for timely? Bottom Line: If you own a Mac, you *need* Symantec's Norton SystemWorks for Macintosh, no "maybe". You hardcores with tricked out G4s need it, your granny with her bondi iMac needs it, and you wait-just-a-little-longer dinosaurs running OS 8.1 or better on your 6100 CDs need it too (though that's not all you need). Though this, like the previous version of Norton Utilities, can't help people like the Ferrantes with their Performa 640s until they decide to help themselves and get with the times (or at least the late 90s), This product is basically for everyone. And the price isn't bad, especially considering what it could cost you if you have to pay for a consultant or data recovery expert later. Norton SystemWorks for Macintosh |
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