The Norton brand is probably the most synonymous brand when it comes to virus protection software. Norton Antivirus has been in existence since 1990, and since then a growing number of people have come to rely on the Norton name to protect their computers from virus attacks. In fact, Norton Antivirus is considered the most widely used antivirus software in the world today.



Over the years, Norton Antivirus has constantly underwent upgrades as a means of trying to improve on its ability to detect a growing number of viruses that are being spread. Additionally, each generation of the software incorporates several new features and services as a way of making it more effective in its task of detecting and eliminating (or quarantining) viruses as well as turning it into a more robust application. For example, in recent years, Norton Antivirus has begun to incorporate the detection not only of viruses but also of Trojan horses, spyware and worms as a direct response to the growing proliferation of these potentially harmful pieces of malware.

With the release of Norton Antivirus 2007, users should expect to see another set of new features that will help it remain the top of its class when it comes to virus protection. One of the biggest changes in the 2007 version over the previous 2006 version is the decision of the Norton Antivirus team to rewrite much of the code for the application. The result of this overhaul is a faster and lighter version of the antivirus software. Rewriting the code also meant that the interface was streamlined as well. Unlike the previous version, where each task appeared in a separate desktop window, the 2007 version wisely uses tabs inside just one window, which makes it much easier to manage.

Under the hood, Norton Antivirus also benefited from the code rewrite. For instance, the virus scan and the spyware scan now run simultaneously, which drastically cuts down on scanning time. Norton Antivirus 2007 also incorporates many of the functions of Norton Personal Firewall, which means the application can now also double as a ?light? firewall.

Another very important feature of the new version of Norton Antivirus is the incorporation of enterprise level anti rootkit functions. This powerful level of protection against rootkits is well worth the price of the software especially with the growing prevalence of rootkit based attacks on computers. Overall Norton Antivirus 2007 is still arguably the best antivirus protection one can get, and the new version was definitely worth the wait unlike previous versions which disappointed.