Sophos Endpoint Security Cloud

Please note that this comparison refers to the Internet security suite offered by each company unless otherwise specified. In the Norton vs McAfee match up, both offer multiple levels of protection; however, the Internet Security Suite tends to provide features useful to most users.

Comparing Price

The competitive nature of current antivirus software usually means that prices remain relatively close among various manufacturers. The standard retail price for Norton Internet Security is $49.99. McAfee Internet Security is only $6 more at $55.99.

Both offerings allow users to install the product on three unique machines; enough to protect most households.

In other cases, the software actually blocks safe sites inadvertently. This is a frustrating experience for users when attempting to visit sites that do not present a security threat.

The biggest disappointment is that McAfee failed to introduce many new features into the 2014 product offering. For the most part, the software is very similar to last year’s product; making it difficult to justify the expense of renewing the license from a user perspective.

Comparing Performance

McAfee Internet Security outperforms Norton’s product in terms of actual PC performance. McAfee has traditionally done a good job of keeping its software lightweight and efficient. The program never slows down the computer by consuming too much memory or other system resources.

Norton, on the other hand, has a reputation as a “resource hog.” Although the 2014 release seems to be less system intensive, it can slow down your machine. This is especially noticeable on machines that rely on slightly older processors or that have small amounts of available RAM.

Although Norton Internet Security can affect the performance of your computer, it does offer tools that may counteract its tendency to decrease performance. The software includes an Application Rating system that shows other applications that may be consuming too many resources and adversely affecting computer performance.

The Startup Manager shows applications that take up large amounts of memory during boot. Eliminating these programs from automatically starting with Windows can drastically decrease boot time and increase overall system efficiency.

Despite these tools, the lightweight design of McAfee’s product is less likely to impact system performance negatively. The only drawback is that users will experience more pop-up notifications from McAfee. Although some users may appreciate frequent notifications, many will find this feature annoying.

Comparing Features

Each product offers a variety of new features for 2014 that attempt to differentiate each product from many of the other viable antivirus solutions on the market.

Highlights of Norton Internet Security protection include:

• Insight Network collects data from all Norton users to detect new malware quickly.
• Smart Firewall remembers previously visited websites and reduces security prompts when revisiting these sites.
• Identity Safe helps keep passwords and other login information safe, similar to a “password vault.”
• Download Intelligence helps determine whether or not a downloaded file is safe based on data gathered from the Insight Network and updated virus definitions.
• Vulnerability Protection blocks attacks that target vulnerable software products (such as Adobe flash player and Java).

These features combine to give Norton products a high score in overall feature availability. In general, components of Norton Internet Security work harmoniously to protect users from a variety of Internet threats simultaneously.

Some of the key features of McAfee Internet Security include:

• Spam & Dangerous Email Filters that have been improved upon since previous releases. For the most part, McAfee does a good job of eliminating junk email from the user’s inbox.
• Parental Controls help block inappropriate sites from children and limit Internet usage when children cannot be directly supervised.
• Vulnerability Scanner helps to find and patch holes in Windows and applications.
• PC Optimization Tools help to delete unnecessary files and increase overall performance.
• McAfee Shredder securely destroys sensitive files such as tax documents; making them almost impossible to recover by even the most experienced hackers.
• Two-way Firewall detects and blocks threats from outside your home network while also monitoring suspicious outgoing activity that originates from within your operating system.

Each product tries very hard to differentiate itself from other products and from its own previous versions. Norton has made noticeable changes to included features and represents a solid step forward for PC protection in 2014 and 2015.

McAfee, on the other hand, has not introduced very many new features although they have spent a good deal of time improving existing features. Users who have historically used McAfee will have no problem adjusting to the very similar feature set found in the 2014 release of Internet Security.

McAfee vs Norton Advantages – At a Glance