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        It was time for my 2001 Norton Antivirus to be no longer supported by Symantec. I had read in several places that Norton Antivirus 2005 would bog down a Windows 98 machine.* The memory requirement in RAM for Norton is 120 MB. I had also read that as far as system resources are concerned, extra memory (I have 256 MG of SDRAM) helps only Windows XP not Windows 98.*
        I considered the popular and small footprint Grisoft AVG antivirus and the very small footprint of Computer Associates E-Z Antivirus. But in the end, I decided for PC-cillin. Its requirements are 233 Megahertz for Windows 98 (300 MHz for XP), 64 MB of RAM with 128 or more recommended for Windows 98 (128 MB for XP) and Internet Explorer 5.5 with Service Pack 2 or later, and 85 MB of available hard disk space.
        PC-cillin was rated as a best buy by PC World Magazine in June 2004. That advice as a consideration, and the free telephone as well as the free e-mail support (which no other Antivirus maker has) was convincing. A second factor was no on-line Activation (Norton) and the problems that may then arrive with updated equipment changes. You can get a competive update rebate of $20 for switching from another Antivirus maker.
        My disappointments? I had suffered with 9 rescue disks with Norton 2001, now I have 13! My System Resources fell from 84% with Norton to 80% with PC-cillin. Also some quirky cursor effects. As Windows 98 loads, the System tray fills in all icons but PC-cillin at the end, the cursor disappears for 7-8 seconds, then reappears with the symbol for PC-cillin, and again there is a 18 second wait before you can do anything as the cursor becomes sluggish. In a similar vein, after a download of a virus pattern (Norton definition) or a spyware blocker, a period after the icon in the system tray changes appearance from downloading to done the computer can be heard still churning for 7-8 seconds and the cursor goes sluggish for that period.
        The automatic Update feature has two observation choices. You can choose to view it and a thermometer showing progress, or just watch the icon in the system tray. Norton 2001 only had the icon in the system tray. You can let it do auto-updates which it will try to do every 2 to 12 hours according to your choice. And you can do a manual update any time you wish from the Main Interface. Also you can manually do a full system, folder, or file scan for viruses on the computer. A special Alert function can be set to e-mail you of a special current virus problem.
        Other than the above mentioned features, the program has presented no problems. I have tried the phone support and it seems adequate (I had a question about their Customer Care service). The CD comes with a 26-page Quick Start Guide (for after installation) and a 6-page Quick Start Card (for installation itself). There is of course, the Web Site for Trend Micro at trendmicro.com. It includes a Knowledge link, a FAQ link, and other links. Of course the program comes with a Help function. Help allows you to also go on-line, see a virus encyclopedia, or a Virus Info Center. Help is available from the Main Interface. The Interface, by the way is 15 seconds slower than Norton in coming to appearance.
        TrendLabs headquarters is in Manilla, Phillipines. It has addresses also in Cupertino and Irvine, CA. The English on line is definitely year 1900 English English, and is somewhat refreshing to read.
        You can update to Trend’s PC-cillin Internet Security if you also want to use their full Antivirus, firewall, spam, and pop-up blocker. However, to do so you have to uninstall the Antivirus first (not so sharp).
*The Healthy PC, by Carey Holzman, Osborne Publishing.
Degunking your E-mail, Spam, and Viruses, by Jeff Duntemann, Paraglyph Press.