There really is no way you are going to get a realistic unbiased answer to this question in the avast forums. The same would be true asking if avast is better than Norton on the Norton forum you are going to get a biased set of answers.
Those who have used it before only have that experience to go on and if you are happy you aren’t going to uninstall it, pay for Norton just to try it in its latest incarnation.
David!
I personally think there is a way to not be so overwhelmed by euphoria of a certain product and make a rational discussion of another and there are a lot of proofs to not bash NORTON so badly only because we are on AVAST webforum. I am personally using AVAST tho i have a licence for AVG which is really bloated and TREND 2009 which is a total mess and find AVAST a much better protection choice.
I am sorry to keep this discussion . Hope no offense for you
How can you make a rational discussion with zero experience of a product, answer you can’t, which is why I said in the first place that the question was flawed in that it is being asked in the wrong place. People who are in the avast forum that you are effectively asking the question or are unlikely to have ever used NAV 2009.
Whilst I don’t take any offence, I do think it is a little cheeky to ask this sort of comparison with another AV on the official avast anti-virus support forum, which is after all being paid for by Alwil software. So this really has nothing to do with Norton bashing or the merits of one AV over another.
It is simply not the place to discuss it, as I said I wouldn’t expect this reverse question"is avast! better than nav 2009" to be very well received on any official norton forum.
no 
just my minor opinion!
yours
onlysomeone
That’s our difficulty… we have just used the old versions.
Seems that the “server” version is quite better than the final PC user one.
But it’s difficult for me to say good things about Symantec… Maybe I need to get mature ;D
I am not so sure that price really differentiates the products either. Although, it is hard to beat Avast’s free version, if you want the couple of additional features found in the Pro version, then Avast can get costly. And, I can buy a 3-user license for Norton 2009 at a price that is nearly zero after rebates.
Hmmm, a fair question.
I will not get into the details, but I will try and throw out a couple of reasons here.
Norton, and its’ counter part McAfee, for some time now have been the standard for detection and protection software. The trouble is, the script kiddies are well versed in the “standards” and often create new and nastier little bugs to avoid such standards.
To combat this, Norton and McAfee kept adding to their engines, expanding rules, definitions, background detections, ect.
The end result of this little cyber war was that the standards became so over bloated that they started taking over the systems they were on. I have used both Norton and McAfee and in the beginning I was happy with both. As time went on, I found that my system was running slower and slower, that some commands that I had given to my system were being blocked and/or repeatedly scanned to death, and that in some cases, my boot time went from a few seconds to “oh lord, I better get a cup of coffee”.
With Norton, my system eventually collapsed. When I noticed McAffee starting down the same road, I killed it to.
So, then I found myself with no AV scanner. For awhile I used online virus scanners, but this became inconvenient and offered no real time protection of course.
I used AVG for some time untill they changed the program in such away as it added to much garbage , (stuff I did NOT want), on to my system that it too became a bloated cow.
Enter !Avast. I found this av scanner to be feature rich, with a lighter profile on my system than any of the others. I also like its “modular” type of assembly, giving the user the choice as to suspend one or more parts of its’ services without leaving the user wide open. It has regular updates, and strong protections.
That was reason enough for me. I have been using it ever since, and I have gotten my friends on it as well.
In closing, I guess the term “better” is a personal opinion. If you do not have any trouble with the “bloated cow” than stick with what you know. When you are tired of your system running like a turtle, dump Norton and get !Avast. Soap box has now been vacated 
P.S. Before you ask, no, I did NOT run Norton and McAfee at the same time. That would be bad
ok i want to clear my statement again
i do agree with this logic that there is no point of comperison here and the discussion should be closed if everyone here (including myself) is using AVAST and is happy with it so why chat about it?
We all know the answer.
thanks again and good luck
:o
I wish I could cite the source, instead of relying on my feeble recall.
I read a comparison of a bunch of AV programs that showed how much the AV program slowed the computer, Norton (and I believe McAffee) were TREMENDOUS drains on the system, while Avast was 1 of the best. Avast appears to be faster on the 1 computer I have it on (as opposed to 7 computers with various Norton products) I have another computer that I had to remove Norton from due to the fact that the essential program on that computer froze frequently with a Norton AV version on it.
So as my norton subscriptions expire, I’m planning on switching to Avast