zteardrop
join:2005-12-20
Brooklyn, NY
| NIS 2007 Beta - First look. I like what I see
Install in progress | 
Main Screen | 
Phish site detected |
The install was around 38MB. It downloaded in around 53 seconds on my cable modem. The complete install took around 4 minutes. It was clean and uneventful, very well designed with no questions being asked unlike many other products like NOD32 and Zone, which ask you things like "Are you an Expert User?".  How do I know. Yeah sure, I am an expert and then you get bombarded with 50 questions.
No reboot is required after install. The product is ready to use. I installed on XP SP2.
The first thing you will notice after install is that the user-interface has completely been redone. This is the first time in 6 years. Its more task-based with all the more frequently used tasks directly accessible from the main page. If you want to drill down you can using the configure buttons. Which brings me to the first performance improvement. The UI are blazingly fast unlike previous versions. Double-clicking the tray icon (there is only one now as opposed to two earlier) will bring the UI instantenously. Also like the cool color scheme. This is by far the best designed UI in a home-user product today.
At first launch the user comes up with a Brown status. I guess Brown is a new status for nis 2007, and it means that action is required. A full system scan resolves this and changes the status to green.
When you launch the full system scan here is where things get very interesting. Not sure whats going on, but this new version appears to be scanning more deeply that any previous versions. It appears to be scanning registry files and other files that are hidden in the OS. It found and scanned at least far more files and nis 2006 and even more than KIS 2006 or NOD32 2.5. I'm not sure whats its doing but I need to do some additional testing. I am going to try scanning for some rootkits that stealth themselves. The new features are not advertised anywhere so its hard to tell.
One feature that is immediately evident as being a new feature is when you launch the browser for the first time. I use IE. There is a Fraud/Phishing toolbar (see screenshot). And boy is it effective. I tried it at every phishing site at www.dslreports.com/phishtrack and it detected every one. That too me is worth the price of the entire product. I tried it even with little known sites like Halifax (screenshot attached) and it detected the phish right away. THe IE screen is changes to a blackish color and does not allow user input. In comparison the new KIS 6 that also has phishing detection is absolutely useless with an acuracy of less than 5%.
Memory usage: This being a Beta product there is still ways to go. The working set size sits at around 38MB which is a big improvement from last year. I would expect this to drop by around 5MB by the time they ship. In comparison ZIS6 currently sits at around 60MB.
Overall I am very impressed. Symantec has removed all the unnecessary features like parental controls, ad blocking etc and focused on adding new features that are relevant to today's security and made them lean and mean. |
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Oregonian
Premium
join:2000-12-21
West Linn, OR
 ·Comcast
| said by zteardrop  :I just downloaded the install of the just released nis 2007 Beta, and I have to say I am impressed. Double-clicking the tray icon (there is only one now as opposed to two earlier) will bring the UI instantenously. You don't happen to work for Symantec, do you? 
Seriously, thanks for that great review. I have been a long time user of Symantec products but, like several people here, I have gotten a bit tired of the bloat that has overtaken their products in the past few years. I'm running nis 2006 on a 3.6 GHz chip and a fairly clean system and it shouldn't take 15 seconds for the UI to open (but it does). It sounds like they have addressed that.
Also, I was happy to read that they have done away with the second tray icon -- that was a minor annoyance but, because it is visible, it seemed like a bigger annoyance than it really should have been. Anyway, I'm glad it is gone.
Finally, and most important, it appears they have made some very positive improvements to the product to detect phishing and do a more thorough scan of a system. Kudos to Symantec for what seems (in beta, at least) to be a promising release. |
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j2
join:2006-04-16
90271
| reply to zteardrop
Hi Thanks for posting the pictures!!!
"When you launch the full system scan here is where things get very interesting. Not sure whats going on, but this new version appears to be scanning more deeply that any previous versions. It appears to be scanning registry files and other files that are hidden in the OS"
Thats cool Norton has improved its AntiVirus its probably gonna detect unsafe applications and detect hidden rootkits? can u post some more info about Norton firewall/AntiVirus Options/Features? Thanx |
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zteardrop
join:2005-12-20
Brooklyn, NY
| reply to zteardrop
Firewall Options | 
Local private LAN is trusted | 
IPv6 Support |
- IPv6 is supported. My guess is that this is in preparation for Vista. Vista has out-of-the-box IPv6 support, so this is a smart move by Symantec.
- There is a new mode for the firewall rule processing. This is "Automatically decide what to do". Its clear that this is different from "Automatic Program Control" from previous year's products just by looking at the options, but I'm not sure what it is different.
- Program Launch Monitoring and Program Component Monitoring have been promoted in the UI rather than being hidden deep below but are still OFF by default. The two features prevent various kinds of leaks, and I have to agree with Symantec's decision to leave them off because the whole leaktest idea is a huge waste of time. There is no end to the number of holes in the network to sneak information out of the machine. Ofcourse I suspect Zone and Outpost will continue to blow smoke up everybody's a** by claiming that leaktest detection is the best thing since sliced bread.
- Stealth scans are detected and blocked out of the box. Nmap -sS, -sX, sN etc. No surprise here.
- The other interesting change is that whole notion of Away, Home, Office etc in the firewall no longer exists at least not in the UI. The feature appears to be still there but has been simplified to Trusted and Untrusted. When I switched my laptop on at the airport, it automatically detected the Wayport access point and prompted to trusted/untrusted selection. Be careful with your selection because on trusted networks file sharing is allowed. This will make things a lot easier for the less novice user.
- The Network Wizard from earlier versions is gone. The install automatically detected that I was on a private network and added my network (based on WAP MAC it appears) to the list of trusted networks. |
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jimk
Premium
join:2006-04-15
Raleigh, NC
 ·AT&T Southeast
·RoadRunner Cable
| said by zteardrop :- The Network Wizard from earlier versions is gone. The install automatically detected that I was on a private network and added my network (based on WAP MAC it appears) to the list of trusted networks. What does it do if you plug it into a new private network? I hope it doesn't automatically make it trusted because private doesn't always mean good. I use my laptop on all sorts of networks, and don't trust many of them (even though they are private). Infected systems can be anywhere.
Automatically trusting the network it is installed on may not be a good thing either. If there are unprotected systems on it, there still could be problems.
I trust the networks that I manage, but not random networks that I may connect to at some times. Even then, however, someone could bring an infected laptop in. MAC address restrictions could be set up, but those are not practical for all situations. The same thing applies for endpoint security programs. |
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siliconman01
Premium
join:2005-05-08
Saint Albans, WV
| reply to zteardrop
Is anyone who is using nis 2007 Beta able to obtain the latest virus definitions. I seem to be stuck on 7/17/06. When LiveUpdate runs, it states everything is up-to-date.  |
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DeadSurvivor
Maestro Of Machismo
join:2006-07-24
Tampa, FL
| reply to zteardrop
Thanks For The (P)Review, I've Always Liked nis But Changed To Other Security Software This Year That Wouldn't Bog Down My System As Much.
I'll Miss The nis Ad Blocker, For Me, It Worked The Best (minus link ads, which are growing on websites) On Alot Of Ads, Better Than Anything Else I've Tried. I Allow Ads From My Most Visited Websites For Revenus Purposes.
I Never Cared For Parental Controls So I'm Indifferent There. I Am The Only Person Using My PC So That's The Reason Why.
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Why Is Everyone Invading MySpace? |
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mvdu
Premium
join:2003-07-28
Collegeville, PA
1 edit | reply to zteardrop
I think the layout is much nicer. Will at least listen to what people say about it. I'd rather have leak test protection than not, though: there is no end to the number of viruses released either, but AVs keep up with them.
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Don't Blame Me, I Voted for Kerry! |
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phoneboy2
@shawcable.net
| reply to zteardrop
It doesn't matter what it looks like when the thing cripples your system!
I have no doubt it is more bloated and crippling than before. You have failed to mention some of those most important aspects. What is the memory footprint? How much slower does your system run? |
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zteardrop
join:2005-12-20
Brooklyn, NY
| said by phoneboy2 :
It doesn't matter what it looks like when the thing cripples your system!
I have no doubt it is more bloated and crippling than before. You have failed to mention some of those most important aspects. What is the memory footprint? How much slower does your system run?
I dont answer to trolls.. but if you read my post you will see that the memory footprint is answered. I guess you have no clue what is working set do you ? |
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MagMan
Life is simpler when you tell the truth.
Premium
join:2003-10-01
Westlake, OH
·AT&T Midwest
·AT&T Midwest
| reply to phoneboy2
said by phoneboy2 :
It doesn't matter what it looks like when the thing cripples your system!
I have no doubt it is more bloated and crippling than before. You have failed to mention some of those most important aspects. What is the memory footprint? How much slower does your system run?
Who cares with systems now days there faster and have plenty of mem to take of it.
I like nis just upgraded to 2006 this looks great will not hesitate to upgrade to this either.
It is just like new operating systems example Vista,if you don't have the power or resources to run it,it is going to suck.
Leave nis alone it is a good product IMHO.
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"The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is." |
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zteardrop
join:2005-12-20
Brooklyn, NY
| reply to zteardrop
NIS2007 adds Rootkit detection !!!
Hacker Defender Detected |
Then I ran a manual scan and was blown away. Hacker Defenders hidden files, reg keys, processes, cache entries, host files entries were detected and removed. That just blows my mind. Can any other AV product do that ? |
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Sparrow
Crystal Sky
Premium
join:2002-12-03
Sachakhand
|  reply to zteardrop
MODS - Please fix the margins in this thread...
It would be nice if one of our esteemed mods could fix the margins in this thread so those of us with 17 inch monitors can read it properly.
It really is too difficult to scan through this thread again, but I thought I read the other day that nis 2007 no longer has the Ad-blocking feature. I am hoping this is not the case, as it is one of the best perks of nis.
Can someone who is running the beta 2007 please elaborate.
Thanks!
--
"Be simple, be earnest and spread that simplicity throughout everything you do." |
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FiOS Dan
Premium
join:2001-07-06
Redondo Beach, CA
 ·Verizon FIOS
| said by Sparrow :It would be nice if one of our esteemed mods could fix the margins in this thread so those of us with 17 inch monitors can read it properly. It wasn't much better with a 19" mon.
--
Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.
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siliconman01
Premium
join:2005-05-08
Saint Albans, WV
| reply to Sparrow
Crystal,
nis 2007 Pre-Release does not contain Ad-Blocking, Anti-Spam, Home Page Protection, Personal Privacy Control or Pop Up Blocking. Guess the bloat criticism is being addressed, at least partially. 
I dropped back to nis 2006 because it looks like nis 2007 Pre-Release does not update definitions. At least, I could not get it to fix that in the security center "fix it". Other than that I was pleased with what I saw and will upgrade when it is publicly released. |
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jsolo1
Premium
join:2001-07-01
| reply to zteardrop
Re: NIS 2007 Beta - First look. I like what I see
The firewall custom rules page still looks as lame as it did in nis2003.
They really should add more info on that page such as which ports are being affected, etc. Make it more a table than what it currently is.
--
Insanity is living in a state of disillusion. |
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zteardrop
join:2005-12-20
Brooklyn, NY
| reply to siliconman01
Re: MODS - Please fix the margins in this thread...
said by siliconman01 :Crystal, nis 2007 Pre-Release does not contain Ad-Blocking, Anti-Spam, Home Page Protection, Personal Privacy Control or Pop Up Blocking. Guess the bloat criticism is being addressed, at least partially. I dropped back to nis 2006 because it looks like nis 2007 Pre-Release does not update definitions. At least, I could not get it to fix that in the security center "fix it". Other than that I was pleased with what I saw and will upgrade when it is publicly released. Like I said, they have removed all have removed all the fluff, including other features like AntiSpam that are better implemented by the ISP, and focusing on the things that really matter like rootkit detection and phishing.
The definitions not updating.. Symantec is not posting definitions for the Beta product yet, thats the response I got back from my bug post. I see the same issue. No doubt that will be definitely fixed before they shipped. |
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zteardrop
join:2005-12-20
Brooklyn, NY
1 edit | reply to jsolo1
Re: NIS 2007 Beta - First look. I like what I see
said by jsolo1 :The firewall custom rules page still looks as lame as it did in nis2003. They really should add more info on that page such as which ports are being affected, etc. Make it more a table than what it currently is. You are probably right. Personally I dont go into that page at all so I dont really care. I'm sure neither does the million of nis customers. If I had to guess, Symantec is focusing their efforts on making the commonly used tasks easier to use, and rule editing is IMO not on that list. |
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Anonymous
Premium
join:2004-06-01
IA
·Mediacom
| reply to zteardrop
Symantec should improve their AV's detection rate. Forget the GUI. I hope they learned their lesson and will get rid of the activation.
BTW I do have NAV 2006 installed on my laptop (a mediocre protection will do for it because I don't use it to download stuff from p2p, warez sites etc) and it was so easy to get it activated (have been using it for almost 6 months now with 2000+ days left for subscription updates) |
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