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McAfee Total Protection 2010 Review: Internet Security Software |
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| Extensive PC security; 50% discount | |
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[Editor's Note: McAfee is offering an exclusive 50% discount to NextAdvisor.com visitors. There is no coupon code required to take advantage of this discount, so simply click on any McAfee link on NextAdvisor.com. Offer expires December 3rd, 2010]
First a caveat about McAfee 2010: at this point it's still the same as McAfee 2009. Unlike most others we reviewed, McAfee's 2010 product will actually be released in 2010. Those who buy the 2010 version now will be eligible for a free upgrade when the 2010 version comes out of Beta. McAfee offers an excellent set of tools to protect your PC and is confident enough in its service that it offers a 30-day money back guarantee. If you are unsatisfied with the software for any reason they will refund your money, no questions asked. McAfee was easy to download and install on our Windows Vista PC. Once installed, however, it did seem to run slower than some of the other software products we have reviewed. This is likely due to the fact that McAfee is constantly doing so much to protect your PC. However, McAfee claims that its most recently released version of the software is faster than previous versions. Novice users may be a little intimidated by McAfee's Total Protection interface because it offers so many different options and types of protection. We found some of McAfee's menus to be a bit confusing largely because they had to be designed to accommodate so many different features. McAfee Total Protection includes standard features such as anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-phishing and hacker protection. But it also includes some advanced features that most other services don't have, such as security for your entire home network and even automated backups for important files stored on your computer's hard drive. McAfee has also included easy to use multi-user parental controls which allow you to select which users can access certain prohibited websites. McAfee Total Protection 2009, McAfee's latest software release, adds even more features to the mix. McAfee's new QuickScan takes a few seconds to 10 minutes to check for threats in the most commonly infected places on your computer. When you're in full screen mode, whether you're working, watching a video or playing a game, McAfee 2009 will postpone security alerts and notices so that you won't be interrupted. Other new additions include anti-theft encryption software that lets you password protect files and network monitoring that alerts you if anyone attempts to connect to your wireless network. One of our favorite and most practical features is McAfee's link security tool, which gives color coded risk levels for every link you scroll over on a website, in an email or instant message. This ensures that you can surf with confidence that you won't inadvertently end up on a questionable or dangerous website. McAfee claims to protect over 130 million computers worldwide and based off of our experience we are not surprised so many PC owners have chosen to protect themselves with McAfee. Less technical users may experience some information overload when they first begin using the software. But because McAfee offers a 30 day money-back guarantee, even the least tech savvy individual can try Total Protection risk free to determine whether or not it is the right product for their PC security needs. With its current $30 discount, McAfee is also among the cheapest. Overall, we highly recommend McAfee Total Protection. System Requirements: Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 |
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| Price: | $39.99/yr for up to 3 PCs (after 50% discount) |
| Virus Protection: | Blocks, scans and removes; Monitors for 200,000 known threats |
| Adware and Spyware Protection: | Blocks and removes spyware |
| Identity Theft Protection: | Alerts users to online scams and known fraud websites |
| Spam and Phishing Protection: | Blocks spam and phishing attacks; Identifies suspicious links in email, IM |
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