I guess you could say I’m on a few generations of McAfee, and I’m quite pleased.nI was so happy with this, and my updated version caught some bugs right away. In the past I’ve had Viper, Kapersky, Norton, and a few others. I think Norton has greatly improved (remember the days when every 2 minutes Norton would pop up begging you to upgrade?), but I seem to be doing best with McAfee products.

With the volume of harmful threats that lurk around every corner of the Web, and malware that can find its way onto your computer you must have a product like this.nThe initial scan takes a long time so be patient. Once that is done the software runs quietly in the background.nSince there are prominent competitors of this type of software I reviewed respected industry comparisons (security benchmark/review articles will lead you to them), and this product was among the best.

While this isn’t the Mavis Beacon I’ve known and loved since her humble beginnings in 1987, it’s still a decent program to learn or simply use to brush up on your qwerty typing. Gone are the games and ‘fluff’, this Mavis (who, btw, is a fictional character named after the developer’s favorite singer, Mavis Staples)is all business.nThis is a good, no nonsense way to learn.

This version is slightly better. I think there is a free trial version to try before making the leap, it might be best to try that before investing in this.nWhile the dash is decent, and the auto uninstall is good, there wasn’t much difference despite the ‘clean-up’.nWhile I did not expect a miracle, it was just ok.

Like most Norton products, installation is pretty easynIt’s the UNinstall that can be a nightmare. Even if you get it because of the current low price, make sure you really want it.

Sometimes pouring over page after page is difficult.nIf that describes you, this is a great tool for learning or brushing up on Lightroom. Converting files, how to back up, it’s a LOT of information. Not always as clear as I would have liked, sometimes you just want something streamlined. Still, nice to have this format as an option.nTim Grey has written quite a few books on Photoshop as well as this video tutorial, which now has a newer version.

….but on my little HP Vivienne Tam Mini, boy does it slow her down.nI installed this on an HP Touchsmart and a Mini. I used only the online instructions, because it is recommended to install in that manner, and the Mini doesn’t take a disc anyway. Installation was fast and easy on both machines, and starts with a sweep of each machine. No problems with the Touch, but the Mini can barely load a page if a scan is in progress, and it’s slower in general.

I was thrilled to see Amazon present these, as I had wanted the Rosetta Stone version for years. Since I never used Rosetta stone, I can’t compare, but I will say this was fun, but only for a few weeks. After the newness wears off, it didn’t seem much different than the memorization needed by other types of language programs. Still, a very inexpensive way to try a language out.

For the price, I doubt you can do better than this.nFrom your smartphone to laptop to tablet, Norton 360 offers nice protection on an assortment of devices. I did NOT install on a laptop running Windows 8, as it looks like those bugs might not have been worked out, but the same can be said for Windows 8 itself. Very good value.

Overkill on a Mac? These days, probably not. And 20 bucks isn’t a big investment when it comes to peace of mind.nFor Intel and PowerPC based Macs running Mac OS X 10.4.1110.6