The Change From Mcafee to Norton

[#1]

I  have been using Mcafee  (free with fibre extra)

I am pleased to be "given" Norton as I was about to purchase.

I notice  that it has a 2 year subscription rather than the month by month pattern.

I find myself wondering  whether this is a subtle way of hinting that there will be no "free" Internet offering from Plusnet when Norton that expires and Norton "contacts me with subscription details.

Norton subscriptions  are extortionate cf  buying a new Norton product from many 3rd party dealers?

Moderators Note: All caps title removed as per Forum rules

[#2]

I have always had paid for Norton. My last deal was 10 devices and two years for under £20. Can not get much better value than that!

[#3]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Broadband to Everything Else.

[#4]

Compare and contrast.

I've never used the 'free' Mcafee from PN.

Here's the McAfee renewal I last coughed up for.

McAfee® LiveSafe  1 Device		£40.49
Starts: 14 April 2022 Expires: 14 April 2023

[#5]

A quick skim through the blurb, I think certain elements of the package will require a subscription once the 2 years is up. I always used free antivirus from the web until I realised I could get mcAfee from PN. My experience of Norton in the past hasn't been great- constant pop ups and slow glitchy computer issues. Think i'll give it a miss.

[#6]

I bought McAfee years back and wearied of the constant reminder ads months before expiry date, and bought Kaspersky. I had to download a special tool to remove fragments of McAfee, and even today some kind folk from Eastern Europe or Nigeria still remind me to renew McAfee.

For what it's worth I ditched Kaspersky a few months back following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Having spent a few hours trawling the reviews I'm using Windows Defender which seems to have improved to the extent it may equal some commercial AVs, so far I am pleased at the way it works away in the background while giving a couple of valid warnings.

[#7]

@greygit 

I guess that is the consequence of "renewing" what is offered, rather than (a) shopping around or (b) do as I do each year, contact McAfee support and say "I can get the same product from your retail website for substantially less".

Though of recent times, I have simply bought via 2GO Software UK - #1 Software Specialist who are generally even cheaper.  Currently they have the McAfee Total Protection package for 10 users at £30.  IIRC renewals via them are even cheaper.

[#8]

Even better, Windows Defender is Free 😊

By the way, interesting take on Kaspersky here 

[#9]

Actually that was the reduced price I got. I have/had auto-renew disabled and leave it to the last week and see what 'offer' they can produce. The full price was a penny short of sixty quid.

I'll not be in a hurry to use them again.

I'm just wondering whether McAfee's pricing had an influence in PN changing their end-user offering. What with PN being a 'budget provider'. That's all.

Thanks for the link. I'll have a leisurely look at some point.

[#10]

You'd have to stick it in a test-lab environment to work out whether it is as potentially bad as it might be. (Preferably not on a VM as it is possible to write software that can detect whether it is in a VM environment.)