Mac First Aid – Evaluation
Amee Abel
HOC RATING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Norton SystemWorks for Macintosh
* Requirements: PowerPC processor, Mac OS 8, 20MB hard disk space for NAV and NU, 10MB hard disk space for Aladdin Spring Cleaning, 30MB hard disk space for Danz Retrospect * List Price: $130; upgrade $80 * Manufacturer: Symantec, Inc., 408-253-9600, www.symantec.com
HOC VALUE
YOU NO LONGER NEED to call tech support to solve your Mac problems. Symantec has combined a treasury of Macintosh utilities onto a single disc. While you can purchase Norton Utilities for Macintosh 6.0 and Norton AntiVirus 7.0 separately ($99.95 and $69.95, respectively), we think getting the whole package is money well spent.
Macs are valid targets for viruses nowadays, so Norton AntiVirus is welcome here. The software includes a one-year subscription to LiveUpdate for automatically downloading the latest virus definitions. You can easily turn off the antivirus software with a single click, for those times when you’re adding software to your system that might set oft a warning.
The Norton Utilities perform CPR on an ailing Mac; this latest version includes improved data recovery and fixes drives running MAC OS 8 and higher, including systems running MAC OS X Public Beta. In order to repair OS X systems, you’ll need to boot directly from the SystemWorks CD into a previous OS.
Utilities will also improve your computer’s performance by organizing hard disk storage, a feature called Speed Disk. New to 6.0, advanced users can customize profiles for the speed disk optimization routine. This means you can select the applications you use most frequently and ensure they are available first.
Symantec bundles two additional utilities, a data backup utility from Danz called Retrospect Express and Aladdin Spring Cleaning. Answering a long-neglected need, Spring Cleaning provides a variety of ways to find and remove unwanted files from your Mac’s hard drive.
It’s always been a given that PC users should have something like SystemWorks installed. Now we can recommend the same to Mac users as well.
[pros] Very useful, easy to operate
[cons] Requires a lot of disk space for a Mac
THIS MONTH
IBM NetVista A20i Rating: 7
Norton SystemWorks for Macintosh(a) Rating: 8
AOC Spectrum 7Glr Rating: 7
Lexmark Z82 MFD Rating: 6
CorelDraw 10 Graphics Suite Rating: 8
MacSOHO(b) Rating: 9
Philips 170B Rating: 8
Epson 1640 SU Office Scanner(a) Rating: 8
Microsoft Picture It Publishing Platinum Edition Rating: 7
(a) HOC VALUE
(b) HOC PERFORMANCE
RATINGS
HOME OFFICE COMPUTING rates products on a scale of 1 to 10–with few 9’s or 10’s–based on value, performance, innovation (medals go to rare standouts in these areas), ease of use, and suitability for home offices. The [pros] and [cons] symbols indicate pros and cons.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Freedom Technology Media Group
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group
