Category: 7839

Could Sunbelt have developed a Symantec-killer?  From first impressions and comments filtering through various communities, we may finally be free of the Symantec curse.

Download an eval copy and let me know what you think…

http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/

BTW: Here’s a couple interesting pieces from the VIPRE FAQ…

• Does this product scale? Can I support 20,000 users?  The default database for storing information is an Access MDB file (no need to install Access). Alternatively you can specify any MSSQL 2000 server or above including MSDE and SQL Express as the location data is kept, and this easily supports 20,000 users. You may need to spread this over several servers to balance the load though. Polling can be configured as can the location where the definitions are pulled from. We have one customer running 14,000 users on one server with ease.
• Can I use SMS or ConfigMgr to deploy the client?  The agent can be created as both an MSI file and executable, you can also use SMS, login scripts, or even a webpage to download the agent to any workstation.

So, how does VIPRE compare to the other AV products?

Check it out…  http://www.vipreenterprise.com/Why-VIPRE-Enterprise/VIPRE-Stats.htm

If this won’t kill a product line, nothing will…

Yahoo! and Acresso Announce Multi-Year Yahoo! Toolbar and InstallShield Distribution Agreement

http://www.myitforum.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=5068&z=71

Here’s a quote from the article:

As software companies face slower growth, the strategy focuses on options for them to generate additional revenue and provide new capabilities for their customers.

This makes both companies seem really desperate for sales, and to me, this is not a value-added services strategy, as they say in the article.  We know Yahoo is in trouble, but this article really smells of another buyout for Acresso on the horizon — and so soon after the separation from Macrovision.

If Acresso is that hard-up for sales, they should simply contact us at myITforum.com.  Any highly targeted, highly trafficked community can improve exposure and sales of a product line – they just need to be a little more creative.

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On another note

Speaking of InstallShield – why is it that any install created with InstallShield takes the longest to install and also to uninstall?

I was cleaning up my kids’ computer the other night, which always includes removing software.  When I would uninstall something not created with InstallShield, the uninstall was almost instantaneous.  When I would uninstall something created using InstallShield, I’d grimace a bit and walk out of the room waiting for the uninstall to “configure” and “prepare” for the uninstall.  I simply wanted the software to uninstall.  InstallShield took a half hour job and turned it into 3 times that.