What a disappointment! I was very happy with Norton's Sytemworks 2003 - it worked really smoothly and transparently. My subscription was ending so I thought I'd upgrade to 2004.

BIG mistake. It completely gummed up my otherwise zippy system. Everything slowed to a crawl, from start up down even to ordinary text editing (and I'm not even talking about Word which terrifies everyone and his dog). I have no idea what NSW2004 was doing, but I'd type something and the cursor was in some sort of time warp, about three centuries behind. Navigation through a document was even worse: click click click click the damned thing was still stuck and then would zoom off to some other place. Apparently this was because NSW (specifically the Antivirus bit of it) was busy checking something or the other while I was working!

The guys at Norton must understand one thing: too much paranoia just increases inefficiency. If you're going to spend all your time checking for viruses, you don't get work done. It's that simple. A security software that doubles the time you need you finish a document isn't good software engineering; it's vanity and stupidity. If you must design antivirus software for morons — the kind who still open attachments from unknown people or .exe, .pif and .scr files — then at least say so. Norton for Dummies or something. The pro edition surely should be meant for people who know what they're about and don't make that kind of mistake. That's why it's a "pro" edition, oui? And that's why there are so many 'options' n'est-çe pas?

Good security software leaps in when it's needed. It's not meant to be restless like Macbeth's ghost. This one is constantly working the hard disk. It assumes that the user is a totally dumb ass and therefore needs Norton's ferocious chastity belt; so what if his work goes down the tube? After all, it's the virus that counts, not the work, right?

Wrong. Avoid this like the plague. Stick with 2003. And I just HATE the activation thing. I've been religiously buying their products and I find this totally demeaning. To the crew at Norton: get a life, ladies and here's a gratuitous heads-up — sit someone down and tell him/her to trawl the net for the online customer reviews.

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