I just recently removed an Internet Security Suite that I had been using for years and replaced it with ZoneAlarm’s offering. I felt much like I did leaving home for the first time as this was the only Internet Security program that I had ever used.

The reasons why I bailed on the competitor were:a) Expense. It was coming time to renew and I was just getting tired of how expensive it was to secure my 4 computers (2 at home and 2 in our business). I don’t like the idea of having to practically take a loan out to purchase the 4 licenses I need.

b) Performance. Was it my imagination (I think not) or was my computer being handcuffed in terms of machine speed as well as it taking unruly control of the operational aspects of my day to day tasks. The machines were just flat slow and incredibly so during the scan process. This was on top of having problems occur when installing new software applications in which they were being crippled by the security program and I only found out that the culprit was the security software after shutting it off ie. no notification whatsoever about it blocking the software or given the option to have it not do so.

c) Complexity. I don’t want to have to take a night course in order to manage the rules sets for my Internet Security. It is a complex job, but it’s the software manufacturer’s job to make it intuitive and easy to use for the masses.

Long story short, I installed Zone Labs Zone Alarm Security Suite on two of my computers and it was not only easy to install and use, but my machines are running as if they’ve had a major tune up.

Prior to selecting Zone Alarm I went out and read the reviews. What I found is that it is very well reviewed by nearly every account that I found on the web. I’m glad I found this product! BTW, it’s running on an XP machine and I’ve installed it on a new laptop running Windows Vista, so if you see any negative remarks out there about Vista problems with this product, I wouldn’t place much stock in them. I’ve found them, in my case at least, to simply be untrue.

- sb