During the holidays between the constant meals and endless driving I had a chance to test some new items: Norton System Works and Microsoft Encarta Reference Suite DVD. Both items combine a number of titles into a low priced package, giving substantial value.
Norton System Works is a collection of various Symantec products into one cohesive package. Included are: Norton Utilities 3.0, Norton Anti-Virus 5.0, Norton Clean Sweep, Norton Crashguard Deluxe and Norton Web Services. While you could purchase these items separately, you won't reap it's two benefits: unified installation and bundled price. In this we have some old and some new: Utilities and Crash Guard Deluxe I've reviewed previously, so we'll let them stand on their merits. Norton Anti-Virus 5.0 continues their tradition of excellence: a stand out product that does what it's supposed to do, protect your system from viruses. Clean Sweep is part of Symantec's recent purchase of Quarterdeck, a utility company that had it's best days behind them. I must say that Clean Sweep is a quality product, and handles several aspects of your system: installations, moving applications, removing duplicate files, and far more. The package also includes the following on a "bonus" CD: Secret Stuff, Mobile Essentials, Visual Page, WinFax Basic Edition and pcAnywhere Express. This CD should be treated as a bonus: no integrated installation or assistance, just a bit of whatever Symantec has lying around. Don't get me wrong: these items are useful and definitely add value to the package. For a full list of everything, check out www.symantec.com/sabu/sysworks/fs_sw1basic.html and judge for yourself.
Microsoft has released it's newest reference incarnation, Encarta Reference Suite. This is available in two formats: 5 CD-ROMs or 1 DVD. You've all read and heard of DVD, as have I; but this was my first experience with a DVD-ROM and as such was excited at the new possibilities. I had purchased a DVD-ROM drive some months ago, but no real software has hit the market until now. Basically Microsoft has provided an integrated installation for all products included: Encarta 99 Deluxe, Virtual Globe 99 and Bookshelf 99. Here's a quick breakdown of each. Encarta 99 is the full encyclopedia, including everything under the sun, and then some. To make it more exciting, in a multimedia sense, there are hundreds of animations and movies. Virtual Globe 99 is a full atlas with incredibly detailed maps and a rich information package. Bookshelf 99 is a full reference suite in itself, containing an abridged encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, quotes, and the kitchen sink. For full details on contents and exact numbers, check out www.microsoft.com/encarta to see for yourself. What this set provides, either on CD-ROM or DVD, is a complete reference work that is invaluable for anyone interested in looking anything up. Frankly, I wish this was around when I was in high school.
Both packages offer a wealth of items for a reasonable price. If you're in the market for system utilities or a reference package, give these two a whirl.
by Scott VanderPloeg
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