New in NIS 2010: Windows 7 support, Norton Protection System enhanced with Norton Safe Web (new advanced antispam engine) and SONAR 2 technology to stop new and unknown threats, Norton Performance System (protects system performance), Identity Safe is now more portable; Release Notes - Last Updated: 09.11.09 (2010 v17.0.0.36)
Upgrade Meter: 3
New in NIS 2009: Redesigned interface, Norton Protection System (with an "innovative new technology that uses security information from millions of users to pre-determine what files and processes are safe and what aren’t"), enhanced SONAR technology for detecting unknown threats, "engineered to be fast and light on system resources"; Release Notes - Last Updated: 03.24.09 (v16.5.0.135)
Upgrade Meter: 3
New in NIS 2006: Live Update v3.0, improved spyware detection and prevention, stability improvements, now includes 12 months of protection updates and new product features as available throughout the year, various bug fixes for earlier releases - Last Updated: 01.31.06 Upgrade Meter: 5
New in NIS 2005: Expanded threat detection (detects non-virus threats such as spyware and keystroke logging programs), Network Detector for defining firewall settings across different networks, Web assistant for blocking ads in your Web browser, now scans compressed file archives before you open them and risk infecting your computer, improved anti-spam capabilities; Release Notes - Last Updated: 09.17.04 Upgrade Meter: 5
New inNIS 2004: Completely redesigned interface, expanded threat detection alerts, ability to scan compressed file archives before opening them; Release Notes Upgrade Meter: 5
New in NIS 2001 (v2.5): Automatic online updates (no need to run Live Update yourself in order to check for new updates), intelligent technology for more efficient background monitoring, comprehensive e-mail scanning protection, support for Windows 2000 and Windows ME (Millennium Edition), various feature enhancements and bug fixes Upgrade Meter: 5
Pros: Less intrusive and resource-intensive than past versions; stronger anti-phishing and personal identity protection; excellent protection from all sorts of Internet attacks
Cons: No integrated Anti-Bot features, controls lack fine-tuning adjustments, Ad Blocker doesn't block all ads, slow and less than ideal processing of spam in Norton AntiSpam client, somewhat expensive relative to competition
