| It ain't freeware! But SystemSuite (now V5) is really worth
paying for.
| Think how difficult the task would have been without SS!
|
Please understand that although I still use v4.0, I do not
endorse System Suite!
After I bought the package, the publisher was acquired and sold
off all but their core business (data retrieval). The present
publisher is V-Com. V-Com did not purchase all of the former
System Suite modules.
The business arrangements were a bit messy. SS was originally
cobbled together from a number of products. Some were written by
Ontrack. Some were written by various third parties and used
under license. The entire package was linked together by a
reasonable interface and functioned very well all together. I
don't consider that the program was ever adequately debugged. For
example, the SS windows are too "pretty," often obscuring things
I want to see behind them. And listings (such as a directory
path) often just spill off the side of the screen: you can't read
them. So, I was actually looking forward to a v4.1 when I got
other news.
I have been especially displeased with the company's lack of
antivirus currency and their support policies. I experienced
repeated major frustrations. I will never do business with V-Com
again.
There are other ways of accomplishing what this suite performs,
and a lot of the functions, perhaps all of them, can be
accomplished with freeware. That's the direction I've gone in
after buying three utility packages. The first two were Norton
Systemworks, which I found to be the worst piece of bloatware and
problem creator I've ever put on my system. And the way that
Symantec "supports" their customers, frankly, disgusts me.
I have purchased Iolo System Mechanic to replace V-Com's product,
and I'll be moving over to that suite bit-by-bit. Iolo's support
is forever. Further, they'll talk with me on the phone. And the
package came highly recommended by professionals who use it at
home (recommendations from magazine reviewers who use a package
at the office on their highly-maintained super-powered systems
don't mean much for me on my lonely home box).
When I pay good money for a security program, what I want for my
money is to be able to get the publisher on the telephone. When
my home system is screwed up due to a nasty virus, all the email
support in the world is worthless: I can't go on line for it --
Gotcha! I bought System Suite, a package that contained antivirus
and a firewall (both provided by third parties) with the
understanding that I would receive a certain level of support.
FAQs just don't cut it!
If the mfr won't provide this support in case I need it, I'll go
the freeware or cheapware route instead. With freeware, I don't
expect personalized support, nor do I feel entitled to it. I was
impressed with the slightly-compromised version of Sygate
Firewall that came with System Suite. After that part of my SS
became unusable, I considered buying the firewall directly from
its own publisher. However, I was stopped in my tracks by
Sygate's phone support policy. You can get it -- they call it
"priority telephone support." It only costs $75 per incident! I
wrote to their sales department to tell them that this policy had
cost them a sale. They didn't reply. Bye, bye, Sygate!
This is really too bad, because to me, Sygate had made a really
fine product. My experience with it has been very good.
Richard
