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    Review: Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2013

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    Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security is a security suite designed for Windows 8 and aims to challenge Microsoft’s free out-of-the-box alternative. We took a look at what’s on offer and wether there’s still a need to pay for security software on Windows.

    The Titanium Maximum Security is a comprehensive suite of security applications designed to keep you and your machine safe online. Included is virus protection, spyware and malware detection and removal, parental controls, system tuner privacy and social media protection, password management secure erase and online guardian.

    System Tuner is Trend Micro’s version of the in-built Disk Cleanup that comes with Windows 7/8. Social Networking Protection aims to provide protection while using social networks like Facebook. Personally I don’t want a third party going anywhere near my Facebook account. In-built browser protections and a little bit of user education and this is also not needed.

    Parental Controls is another tool already available to you in Windows. In Windows 8 it’s built right in, just search for Family Safety from the start screen, in Windows 7, it’s available as part of the Live Essentials pack. As for the malware and spyware protection, Windows 8 now has that covered with the included Windows Defender. While this used to require a download of Security Essentials, but now provides protection out of the box.

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    The above screenshot showcases Trend Micro’s incessant demand for attention. While flashing your brand in front of users will have the marketing department drooling with glee, unnecessary popups just annoy users. Below you’ll see there’s the actually 3 Trend Micro Add-ons that tried to attach themselves to IE10. The worst is yet another toolbar, as browsers all evolve, the interface is going away in favour of exposing more content in the pixels available. Apparently toolbar developers still aren’t getting the message, they are not needed or wanted.

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    Performance

    Security software should never be the most resource intensive application on your machine. Multiple times I found my desktop unusually sluggish and after firing up Task Manager I found out why. Trend Micro was often consuming the most memory of any app. It was also using a significant amount of disk I/O, this has a noticeable impact on the performance of the machine.

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    Overall

    Whichever way you slice it, 3rd party security companies will have a very hard time justifying their existence in a Windows 8 world. Including security out of the box was always going to happen, so security vendors have been living on borrowed time for years.

    While there’s supposed to be good reasons for paying to secure your computer, I can’t find one. My machine ran worse after installing Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security and better once I uninstalled it.

    If you disagree with me, it’s available for A$129 for up to 5 devices.

    More info @ Trend Micro Australia

    techau
    techauhttp://techAU.com.au
    This post is authored by techAU staffers. Used rarely and sparingly when the source decided to keep their identity secret, or a guest author who isn't seeking credit.

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