McAfee Internet Security 2010

At a Glance:  McAfee Internet Security 2010 is a decent package if you don't mind a few user interface annoyances and have a fairly powerful system. The user interface is re-designed for 2010 and, like Norton, no restart is required for installation.

The Triple "E" Keys

The following table summarizes the effectiveness of McAfee Internet Security 2010 based on certain tests by large independent testing labs. For more information on the scoring system, visit the Triple E Key Awards page.

Install/Remove:  Installing McAfee Internet Security 2010 was very easy. The first step is download the installer. Then McAfee asks if you want a normal or custom install. For a custom install, you can choose the components you want. I chose not to install the backup utility or the parental controls. After that, the installer goes to work downloading files and giving you tidbits about features and benefits. The window this happens in is very nice. It provides a progress bar, size of the remaining download, speed of the download, and the time left. It's a nice installer but took 9 minutes, 32 seconds to complete and a restart was not required.

When the last dialog says it's finished installing, it still takes a couple of minutes for certain startup tasks to finish. Finally, you'll see the McAfee task tray icon show up. I got two firewall alerts for Dropbox and Free Download Manager so I told the firewall to always allow these programs to access the Internet.

Removing McAfee Internet Security 2010 was easy though it throws up a double-check just to make sure you really, really want to. There's a nice removal progress window just like the installer has. Interestingly, while installing doesn't require a restart, removing does.

Setup/Use:  The McAfee Internet Security 2010 user interface has been redesigned this year. It's nicer looking than the previous one but I have a couple of grumbles about it anyway. First, it's not re-sizable! The reason this is bad is that there are submenus that expand and create scrollbars inside of scrollbars making it difficult to navigate and see what you're doing. Nested scroll bars--yuck! I'll take the old design even though I didn't like it much either.

Second, I couldn't find a way to scan specific folders or files. The only choices were drives. Why would McAfee do that? Every other suite I've reviewed does it. It is possible to use the right click and scan option for any folder or file in a file explorer but it should be in the custom scan section since you may want to choose a number of unrelated folders and files to scan. This should be fixed.

Like the previous interface, it can get confusing finding the right submenu for a task or setting. And while McAfee has made it somewhat better looking, it is not easier to navigate which I think, is more important. To be fair, most of the competitors struggle with the advanced settings layout. There's so much to cram in there for power users that it's difficult to make navigation simple. My son, an IT pro, suggested that they should take a page from Microsoft's user interface on Windows 7. It's pretty sweet.

I use Comcast cable for my Internet service. Up until March 2010, Comcast provided a version of McAfee Total Protection to subscribers. They've since switched to a customized Norton 360 package so I have used both extensively (both are free to subscribers). I was fairly happy with McAfee but felt that it slowed my system too much so I was looking forward to trying Norton for a change. Now that I've use both I have to say that Comcast made the right decision.

Since Symantec acquired Norton several years ago, I was unsatisfied with the performance of the Norton brand. But now, I've flip-flopped. Since Symantec ordered a from-the-ground-up re-write of Norton's security products, it's been a completely different experience. McAfee is falling behind now, I believe.

Ok, I'm not trying to bash McAfee here but I'm just not impressed. While they did okay in the big lab tests (#6 out of 8), I just don't like the interface or the system drag. Some of that is just preference but I think it could be better. At least make the main window user sizable. Sheesh.

Help:  Help is easy to get. McAfee Internet Security 2010's user interface has a help button that opens to reveal two links. One opens a web page hosting a user manual. The other sends you to the support page where you can use FAQs, chat, phone or email support. McAfee provides 30 days of phone support free for new purchases. There's also the "Virtual Technician" service which is an automated tool that looks for problems in your McAfee product and does fixes, if possible. If not, it provides system info to a technician who can help you from there.

Performance:   I ran a custom scan on my test folder and found that there was little feedback about the progress of the scan. It looked stuck but I could tell it was scanning by the increased fan activity so I waited. Then I noticed that there was a "Scan in progress" icon in the system tray so I was sure then. I'd like to see more feedback in the main window, though. The scan finished with a time of twenty minutes. It did find my double-zipped virus test file without any problem.

Value:  $44.99 will get you a 3PC license so it is one of the cheaper solutions if you're looking to save some coins.

Bottom Line:  McAfee Internet Security 2010 wasn't as impressive as I'd hoped given the redesign. The user interface is still kind of clunky and difficult to navigate. Even so, McAfee has a good reputation and does a lot in the business security field so they're no slouch. I think with a better user interface, better resource performance, and getting those scores up a little would make them much more competitive.