Webroot

At a Glance:  Webroot Internet Security Essentials (WISE) combines three of the company's products into one suite: antivirus, antispyware, and firewall. The result is an clean package that does the job well without adding other add-on security components.

The Triple "E" Keys

Firewall:  Webroot's firewall is not bad but it's not the best one available either. At least it's easy to use. There are three profiles to choose from: Home, Office, Remote. Each profile has settings that are adjustable for Internet and Network. It's simple to adjust these settings for each profile so this firewall has user appeal.

There are also three hot buttons called: Allow, Filter, and Deny traffic. You can quickly change the mode here without messing with the profiles. This is handy at times for quick changes without changing modes.

You can adjust detailed settings for programs, processes, and ports if you want to but I like the simple controls best. It's a clean package that does a good job in most situations.

They should, however, turn this firewall into a fortress that matches the power of the antispyware powerhouse they are known for. And I have no doubt that they will because I bought a copy so now they have money for more development.

Malware:  Webroot's antispyware is one of the best available. It's antivirus is very good but has a few rough spots. It's got many of the lab certifications, blah, blah, blah. Overall, the two together do terrific work of killing off the bugga boos lurking in the corners of your Windows machine.

Install/Uninstall:  A little slow but no problems on the install which needs a reboot to finish up. Uninstall...

Setup/Use:  I love the ease of setup and use. For me, it's an annoyance to have tabs, buttons, and sub-menus littered everywhere. Like a few others, Webroot Internet Security Essentials takes a simple approach.

Simple buttons take you to pages like scanning, firewall, shields and options. Then simple tabs take you to the needed feature and from there you just click check boxes mainly. Beyond that there are few places you can go deeper than that. I love simple.

Help:  A big button at the bottom of the home screen opens the help file. It's loaded with info but I barely needed it. Support on the web site is typical.

Performance:  This suite is not the fastest at startup and system drag could be better. Still, with a fairly modern system, you probably won't notice any performance loss. With one of the best malware killers on the market, it makes you feel good that it's working in the background to protect your sensitive home videos, err, I mean important files.

Value:  At $60 for three computers, it's a good value. The great spyware protection makes it even more so.

Bottom Line:  If Webroot can beef up its firewall to the Norton or ZoneAlarm level, make startup a littler faster, and keep out the other clutter, I believe that it's WISE product has the potential to be one of the best of the suites for a long time to come.