McAfee Total Protection 2010

This security suite makes your PC run faster, but it's not as effective Akku Sony VGP-BPS8 as competitors in staving off attacks.

Most people have heard of McAfee: it's a ubiquitous security company whose software already comes preinstalled on scads of PCs. Since the last time we reviewed McAfee's Total Protection suite, the company has beefed up its PC tune-up utility, which slashed our PC's boot time this time around. This software makes it easy to back up key files and folders online, and in a way that doesn't slow down your computer. While the interface isn't Akku Sony VGP-BPS8a our favorite, and it doesn't emphasize parental controls the way other suites do, it's a winner when it comes to speed. But is it as effective as the competition?

Setup and User Interface

When installing Total Protection, the program forces you to manually remove conflicting security software (Symantec Norton 360 Sony VGP-BPS8 Battery does this automatically), and only shows you one piece of conflicting software at a time, which further slows down the process.

Like other programs, the main screen uses familiar green-and-red banners to indicate if your system VGP-BPS9/B is secure or if something is amiss. Beneath a color-coded banner, you'll see, in list form, whether your firewall and scanning are on, if your updates are current, and if your subscription is active. Below that is a list called Features, under which you'll find collapsible fields such as Parental Controls, PC Optimization, Web and Email Protection, and Virus and Spyware Protection. All in all, it's easy enough to tell at a glance if your computer is secure, but the user interface doesn't feel quite as streamlined as Symantec Norton VGP-BPS9A/B 360's, which divides the main screen into just four clickable areas that pertain to backup, identity protection, PC tune-up, and security.

PC Tune-Up and Performance

According to several third-party testers, Total Protection is one of the least effective suites in stopping viruses. On Anti-Virus Comparative's tests, VGP-BPS9/S it only blocked about 38 percent, almost half that of Kaspersky (59 percent). Dennis Publishing gave it a combined protection score of just 43, well below Norton 360 (80), Kaspersky Internet Security (76), and even BitDefender (68). However, it redeemed itself slightly with AV-Test.org, picking up 87.2 percent of malware. That's by no means good--Kaspersky and Norton both detected about 98 percent--but it did beat out BitDefender by 3 percent.

Although McAfee's PC optimization package shortened our boot time, its toolset is less comprehensive Dell Studio 17 Battery than what competitors offer. Its QuickClean tool erases unnecessary files, while the Defragmenter actually just activates the same Disk Defragmenter program that you can find in the Control Panel of any Windows machine. There's also a file shredder, which oddly makes a distinction between (but never explains) basic, safe, comprehensive, and complete shredding. These extra choices make shredding seem more intimidating and confusing.

While Total Protection's interface isn't our favorite, the performance Dell Studio 1737 Battery impact was at least minimal. Firefox opened in 1 second by default, and 2 with a full scan running. And after we ran optimization processes, the boot time dropped to 54 seconds from 1:17.

Backup

Interestingly, when you purchase a subscription to Total Protection, you'll receive three licenses to the software, but six licenses for online backup, Dell Studio 1535 Battery including three that have 2GB of storage and three with 1GB of online storage space

. When creating a backup set, you use check boxes to select files and folders in an interface that looks like what you would see if you chose to open a file from any program in Windows. The setup wizard tells you your upload speed, depending on your connection (ours was 574.6 kbps over Wi-Fi) and how much you could upload in 24 hours (in our case, between 1GB and 4.3GB).

You can toggle between having faster computer performance and faster VGP-BPS13B/Q backups (the quicker your backup, the more likely it is to slow down your PC). You can see the estimated time to back up the initial set, the size of the set, and the number of files (ours was about 45 minutes for 78 files totaling 39.7MB). Later, you can choose to start backing up immediately, wait until the PC is idle, or customize settings further: for instance, you can tell the program not to back up unless you've been idle for a certain number of minutes or if the CPU reaches a certain percentage of activity. These detailed backup settings are a standout feature for Total Protection.

Parental Controls

Unlike Norton 360, which compels users to download an additional piece dell Latitude E5500 Battery of parental control software, Total Protection's parental controls are baked into the security suite. Unfortunately, the interface is less intuitive, and the features skimpier.

McAfee's wizard interface means that you have to proceed through a sequence of screens to adjust the settings you want (Norton 360's tabbed interface lets you jump around, battery skipping categories that aren't of interest to you). You can set a web browsing schedule, as well as select from one of five age ranges (under 5, 6 to 8, 9 to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 18). Each age range has a default set of categories, such as websites with profane language, E6400 Battery that are either approved or forbidden (there are 18 categories in total, not including the amorphous "other" label). While it's convenient that you can block or allow certain sites, it's a bummer that you can only create one profile (Norton 360 lets you create a profile for each of your children).

Also missing from these parental controls are power over social networks and instant messaging accounts, the ability toshiba PA3534U-1BRS Battery to monitor (and not just block) kids' activity, and the option to prevent children from disseminating personal information, such as addresses and phone numbers.

Verdict

People who know their way around their computer and don't require the good battery simplest interface are likely the same people who will appreciate McAfee Total Protection 2010's low performance impact and speed. However, we're not enamored with its poor performance among third-party testing services. Plus, the UI isn't particularly attractive, and its parental controls are relatively weak. While it will store your files safe in the cloud and make your notebook run faster, we suggest saving $10 and picking up Symantec battery Norton 360.

Will Facebook Places Make Us More Human or Just Marketing Pawns?

For years critics of Facebook have blamed the social networking service VGP-BPS8 for making its users less, well, social. Why go out when you can just sit at home and tend to a virtual farm, muse on someone else’s wall, or try to break your high score on Bejeweled Blitz? Facebook Places has the potential to silence those naysayers. It’s a new service (available in the updated iPhone app and via a mobile site) that encourages VGP-BPS9/B users to check in at bars, coffee shops, concerts, restaurants, and other locations where we interact with flesh-and-blood—and not just virtual—friends.

According to Facebook, the goal of this new feature is to keep the Third Place alive. That’s what sociologist Ray Oldenberg VGP-BPS9/S calls the vital public spaces that exist between home and work, where we share our stories and ideas. During the launch event, vice president of product Chris Cox, who referenced Oldenberg, argued that Facebook Places would encourage its members not just to gawk at friends’ photos, but participate in the real world. However, what will we sacrifice by popping our protective bubbles?

Like Foursquare and Gowalla, Facebook Places lets you check in to various Dell Studio 17 Battery businesses and locations, but this service isn’t a game with badges or mayorships. Facebook says it’s really about sharing stories and “staying connected” to the friends around you. And yet Facebook Places will integrate with both Foursquare and Gowalla, leveraging Facebook’s API. So if you use either of those apps, you’ll be able to share those check-ins on your Facebook feed. The popular user-review service Yelp will also leverage Facebook’s platform. As you might expect, marketers want to be your friend, too.

Every time you check in to a location, you can Dell Studio 1737 Battery see what other Facebook members are nearby (People Here Now), and an update will get posted to your Facebook page. Your check-ins will also appear on that location’s Facebook Places page, whether it’s a park, restaurant, or store. Unfortunately, according to one early review, you can’t block merchants from posting your check-in notices. So is Facebook Places really a do-good initiative or is it just another way for companies to hawk their wares based on your Dell Studio 1535 Battery whereabouts?

A how-to guide distributed to marketers by Facebook says that “these check-in stories VGP-BPS9A/B can generate powerful, organic impressions in friends’ News Feeds, extending your brand’s reach to new customers.” As TechCruch noted, while businesses cannot target people who check-in to places, they can target those who Like a business’ Places page. Facebook says that users of this new service won’t be bombarded with location-based offers at the start, but there’s no way the company can ignore an ad market that’s expected to ring up $4.1 billion in sales by 2015.

The good news is that Facebook has made a concerted Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery effort to give Places’ users more control over their privacy settings. For example, by default the service will share your location only with friends. You can then narrow this group to only the people you specify, or open it up to friends of friends, or even everyone. When you check in to a place, you can remove yourself from the People Here Now feature if you prefer not to be discovered (though, in this case, it’s all or nothing). Another Facebook Places feature is tagging, so you can notify friends when you’ve arrived at a location. If you grant permission, friends can even check you into a location.

And that’s where Places really gets tricky. As Facebook opens up its service to third parties, the company says “your friends Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery will be able to share your check-ins with the applications they use to help create new social experiences.” If Facebook doesn’t have the right safeguards in place, however, some of these experiences could be harmful. This week thousands of members enticed by good battery an offer to download a Dislike button app were duped into adding $5 per month to their cell phone bills. Location adds yet another layer of potential danger.

So, yes, in a way Facebook Places does put the “social” back in social networking. And the sheer Dell GD761 Battery number of people expected to use this service could enrich our lives as conversations get more local. But all of those drop pins falling from the sky could really sting unless Facebook deftly balances its desire to help us share stories with the temptation to line marketers’ pockets using our coordinates.

Editor-in-chief Mark Spoonauer directs LAPTOP’s online and print editorial Sony Laptop Battery content and has been covering mobile and wireless technology for over a decade. Each week Mark’s SpoonFed column provides his insights and analysis of the biggest mobile trends and news. You can also follow him on Twitter.

Mobile Flash Fail: Weak Android Player Proves Jobs Right

I’m the last person on earth who wanted to believe Steve Jobs when he told Walt Mossberg Sony VGP-BPS8 Battery at D8 that “Flash has had its day.” I took it as nothing more than showmanship when Jobs shared his thoughts on Flash and wrote that “Flash is closed and proprietary, has major technical drawbacks, and doesn’t support touch based devices

.” After spending time playing Dell Studio 17 Battery with Flash Player 10.1 on the new Droid 2, the first Android

2.2 phone to come with the player pre-installed, I’m sad to admit that Steve Jobs was right. Adobe’s offering seems like it’s too little, too late.

How bad is mobile Flash? When I went to ABC.com and tried to play a clip, I waited five minutes while the player said “loading.” During that time, it Dell Studio 1737 Battery was nearly impossible to scroll around the page or tap objects on it. Eventually, I scrolled up to see a message that was previously obstructed and said ”Sorry. An error occurred while attempting to load the video. Please try again later.” It gets worse…

When I visited Fox.com and tried to start an episode of House, the program actually played but, even Dell Studio 1535 Battery over Wi-Fi, the playback was slideshow-like. Worse still, the player became unresponsive as it ignored my attempts to tap the pause, volume, and slider buttons. At some point during playback, an overlay message warned me that this video was “not optimized for mobile.” I encountered the same message Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery when I tried to play a trailer of the Expendables that was embedded on the movie’s mySpace page. Wasn’t Flash 10.1 supposed to erase the boundaries between mobile and the desktop?

During these Flash lockups, it was nearly impossible to scroll around the screen and most taps were ignored or followed many seconds later. The only way I found to get your phone back to normal when it’s having a Flash meltdown like this is to hit the back button or the home button to get out of the program and even then the phone Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery takes a second to become responsive again.

To help users find content, Adobe promotes its Abobe Flash showcase for mobile in the Android Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery Market, but it’s just a link to a mobile site, not an app. There I found a link to the Sony Pictures trailer site, and all of the clips played smoothly at full screen. I also found links to a number of TV shows that play in Flash, but not always well. An episode of CSI on CBS.com actually played without locking up the system, but it was rather jerky.

The difference between the smooth Flash VGP-BPS9/S trailers on Sony.com, the jerky episode of CSI, and the system locking Flash video on Fox.com is that the smoother ones were optimized specifically for phone playback. But if content providers have to go back and optimize their videos for mobile platforms, one of the key benefits of mobile Flash–backward compatibility with millions of existing videos–is lost. If you’re modifying your videos anyway, why not go the full monty and use an HTML 5 player instead Dell GD761 Battery of Flash?

Back in April, Jobs pointed out that mobile Flash had been promised and delayed since dell Latitude E5400 Battery the beginning toshiba PA3534U-1BRS Battery of 2009. “We think it will eventually ship, but we’re glad we didn’t hold our breath,” he wrote. Unfortunately, many Web content providers haven’t been holding their breath either. As we surfed around, we found more and more sites that work with HTML 5. The difference between an HTML 5 video and a Flash video that works well is so slight you can’t tell. I visited South Park Studios on my PC and saw that it used Flash to play episodes of the popular show, so I tried it on dell Latitude E4300 Battery my phone. I was pleasantly surprised at how well Flash episodes of South Park streamed over 3G, until I realized that the site had detected that I was on my phone and was serving me HTML 5 video instead.

After my mixed experience with video, I was curious to try Flash-based games on our Android phones. When I tried going to famous Flash game Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad R60 Battery sites like Newgrounds or Addicting Games, I found that, as Steve Jobs said, “Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers.” Many of the games I loaded were slow to start and slowed the system, making it difficult to scroll around the page or tap on links. But much worse was that, even when these titles loaded, there was no way to control most of the action. Most games required keyboard or mouse actions I simply could not perform on my phone, even with its Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad R61 Battery QWERTY slider. One shooter wanted me to hit the CTRL key to fire; another asked for the left mouse button.

Finally, I went to Mochi Games, a site that Adobe points to from its Flash showcase, a site Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad T61 Battery that is designed specifically for mobile flash. There, I found an attractive looking zombie game called Blood Red that was made for touch and required me to tap the screen to fire my gun at the oncoming undead. Unfortunately, when I tapped my shots went all over the place and I was dead within seconds. Was Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad T60 Battery it Flash that caused the bullets I shot to go to places I didn’t tap or was it my poor hand-eye coordination? I don’t know, but I was frustrated.

Aside from playing videos and gaming, another purported benefit of Flash is that gives you the real web, without showing empty boxes on your favorite sites. While I love this idea, I actually found that some Flash sites had more difficulty loading on the mobile browser when I had the plug-in enabled. At one point, for a period of about 45 minutes, I was inexplicably unable to load either New York Times home page or LAPTOP’s home page as the Droid 2′s browser got stuck at the point where it was trying to download some Flash ads Dell Vostro 1500 Battery and a Flash video player.

When we ran our phone battery test, which surfs the Web Dell Laptop Battery until the handset’s battery dies, the whole process crashed when the browser reached Veoh.com, a site with an autoplaying Flash video on its home page. Once we disabled Flash, we were able to run the test to completion.

Despite all the problems I experienced with Flash Player 10.1, I suppose Adobe deserves credit for bringing the grownup PC experience of Flash to phones. Now, I can browse around the Web and attempt to use Flash sites that were never designed for my phone and see how it goes. Sometimes, I’ll even be good battery pleasantly surprised. The South Park Avatar Creator, which is featured in Adobe’s showcase, is a really neat Flash tool for creating a South Park version of yourself.

Mobile Flash Fail: Weak Android Player Proves Jobs Right

I’m the last person on earth who wanted to believe Steve Jobs when he told Walt Mossberg Sony VGP-BPS8 Battery at D8 that “Flash has had its day.” I took it as nothing more than showmanship when Jobs shared his thoughts on Flash and wrote that “Flash is closed and proprietary, has major technical drawbacks, and doesn’t support touch based devices

.” After spending time playing Dell Studio 17 Battery with Flash Player 10.1 on the new Droid 2, the first Android

2.2 phone to come with the player pre-installed, I’m sad to admit that Steve Jobs was right. Adobe’s offering seems like it’s too little, too late.

How bad is mobile Flash? When I went to ABC.com and tried to play a clip, I waited five minutes while the player said “loading.” During that time, it Dell Studio 1737 Battery was nearly impossible to scroll around the page or tap objects on it. Eventually, I scrolled up to see a message that was previously obstructed and said ”Sorry. An error occurred while attempting to load the video. Please try again later.” It gets worse…

When I visited Fox.com and tried to start an episode of House, the program actually played but, even Dell Studio 1535 Battery over Wi-Fi, the playback was slideshow-like. Worse still, the player became unresponsive as it ignored my attempts to tap the pause, volume, and slider buttons. At some point during playback, an overlay message warned me that this video was “not optimized for mobile.” I encountered the same message Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery when I tried to play a trailer of the Expendables that was embedded on the movie’s mySpace page. Wasn’t Flash 10.1 supposed to erase the boundaries between mobile and the desktop?

During these Flash lockups, it was nearly impossible to scroll around the screen and most taps were ignored or followed many seconds later. The only way I found to get your phone back to normal when it’s having a Flash meltdown like this is to hit the back button or the home button to get out of the program and even then the phone Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery takes a second to become responsive again.

To help users find content, Adobe promotes its Abobe Flash showcase for mobile in the Android Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery Market, but it’s just a link to a mobile site, not an app. There I found a link to the Sony Pictures trailer site, and all of the clips played smoothly at full screen. I also found links to a number of TV shows that play in Flash, but not always well. An episode of CSI on CBS.com actually played without locking up the system, but it was rather jerky.

The difference between the smooth Flash VGP-BPS9/S trailers on Sony.com, the jerky episode of CSI, and the system locking Flash video on Fox.com is that the smoother ones were optimized specifically for phone playback. But if content providers have to go back and optimize their videos for mobile platforms, one of the key benefits of mobile Flash–backward compatibility with millions of existing videos–is lost. If you’re modifying your videos anyway, why not go the full monty and use an HTML 5 player instead Dell GD761 Battery of Flash?

Back in April, Jobs pointed out that mobile Flash had been promised and delayed since dell Latitude E5400 Battery the beginning toshiba PA3534U-1BRS Battery of 2009. “We think it will eventually ship, but we’re glad we didn’t hold our breath,” he wrote. Unfortunately, many Web content providers haven’t been holding their breath either. As we surfed around, we found more and more sites that work with HTML 5. The difference between an HTML 5 video and a Flash video that works well is so slight you can’t tell. I visited South Park Studios on my PC and saw that it used Flash to play episodes of the popular show, so I tried it on dell Latitude E4300 Battery my phone. I was pleasantly surprised at how well Flash episodes of South Park streamed over 3G, until I realized that the site had detected that I was on my phone and was serving me HTML 5 video instead.

After my mixed experience with video, I was curious to try Flash-based games on our Android phones. When I tried going to famous Flash game Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad R60 Battery sites like Newgrounds or Addicting Games, I found that, as Steve Jobs said, “Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers.” Many of the games I loaded were slow to start and slowed the system, making it difficult to scroll around the page or tap on links. But much worse was that, even when these titles loaded, there was no way to control most of the action. Most games required keyboard or mouse actions I simply could not perform on my phone, even with its Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad R61 Battery QWERTY slider. One shooter wanted me to hit the CTRL key to fire; another asked for the left mouse button.

Finally, I went to Mochi Games, a site that Adobe points to from its Flash showcase, a site Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad T61 Battery that is designed specifically for mobile flash. There, I found an attractive looking zombie game called Blood Red that was made for touch and required me to tap the screen to fire my gun at the oncoming undead. Unfortunately, when I tapped my shots went all over the place and I was dead within seconds. Was Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad T60 Battery it Flash that caused the bullets I shot to go to places I didn’t tap or was it my poor hand-eye coordination? I don’t know, but I was frustrated.

Aside from playing videos and gaming, another purported benefit of Flash is that gives you the real web, without showing empty boxes on your favorite sites. While I love this idea, I actually found that some Flash sites had more difficulty loading on the mobile browser when I had the plug-in enabled. At one point, for a period of about 45 minutes, I was inexplicably unable to load either New York Times home page or LAPTOP’s home page as the Droid 2′s browser got stuck at the point where it was trying to download some Flash ads Dell Vostro 1500 Battery and a Flash video player.

When we ran our phone battery test, which surfs the Web Dell Laptop Battery until the handset’s battery dies, the whole process crashed when the browser reached Veoh.com, a site with an autoplaying Flash video on its home page. Once we disabled Flash, we were able to run the test to completion.

Despite all the problems I experienced with Flash Player 10.1, I suppose Adobe deserves credit for bringing the grownup PC experience of Flash to phones. Now, I can browse around the Web and attempt to use Flash sites that were never designed for my phone and see how it goes. Sometimes, I’ll even be good battery pleasantly surprised. The South Park Avatar Creator, which is featured in Adobe’s showcase, is a really neat Flash tool for creating a South Park version of yourself.