The Magic of Branding

As a consumer, business or otherwise, if you didn't already know (or at least suspect) what it was, what would you think Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0 was? It is described as: "It includes Symantec Endpoint Protection, Symantec AntiVirus for Linux and Macintosh, and mail protection which shields against malicious email."

So, it's an Anti-virus program? With anti-malware and perhaps spam-blocking, phishing prevention, or other features? Why is that, exactly, "endpoint" protection?

I'm sure the product itself is fine. I haven't used it, but I've used Symantect Norton Anti-Virus before and it's a bit of a resource hog, for me.

But what, specifically, is an endpoint, and why do I need mine protected? Apparently, it's important enough to protect my endpoint that they've come up with 11different iterations of it!

Reminds me a little bit of the classic "What if Microsoft made the iPod?" video. In a desire to make product branding distinct, unique, and to "stand out" companies tend to obscure what the product is and what the product does. What about "Complete Protection"? "Whole Computer Protection" . . . I dunno, I think there has to be a better way to get the message across than "endpoint" protection.

But maybe that's just me.

Corel Wordperfect for Office X3 for only $17.95

For those of use looking for an alternative to some of the Microsoft Office products would do well to look at Corel WordPErfect OFfice X3 (part number WPX3STDENGPC). There's software for word processing (and some might say much more manageable than Microsoft Word), editing spreadsheets, doing slide shows ala PowerPoint, and more. And for only $17.95!


And it has complete suppy for the Adobe Acrobat PDF format. And it can import PDFs. How about them apples?

But what about all your Micrsoft Office docs? What about the Microsoft Office documents folks are always emailing you? It's easy to open, edit and save Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. So you can work with all your Microsoft Office documents (and save 'em as PDFs), you can save your WordPerfect documents in Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint format to send to colleagues . . . and you get it all at a bargain price.

You really can't beat it. If Corel had done a better job of marketing WordPerfect Office over the years, it'd be on a lot more desktops . . . and it probably wouldn't be nearly such a bargain. Because it's easy to use, slimmer and lighter than Microsoft Office, with 99% of the power and value of Microsoft's product. I've used them both, and there are of course some handy things about using Microsoft Office on Windows, but there isn't a better value in productivity software out there than Corel's WordPerfect Office X3. Buy it today. We have it for only $17.95, or $15.95 a piece for orders of 20 or more.

And, while you are at it, take a look at some of our other bargains on 3rd party software.

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BTW, check out our Excess Software section, which includes stuff like Windows 2000 Server, Adobe Ovation, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Office XP Pro, Microsoft XP Pro, Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, and more. Have a blessed day!

The Market for Older Software, Part Deux

Like, for example, Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. Why is there still a market software? Because, believe it or not, some people still need it. They have vertical applications that only run on this software, or they've got machines in service that can run later-rev software without problems, etc. Yes, there is still a market for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, and we've got it for a great price: only $19.95. For as long as we have it in stock. Which probably won't be forever, because I'm not kidding: people still need this stuff, and sometimes will snap up 100 copies at a time. So, if you need NT 4.0 Workstation, pick it up now. We've got it in stock, and for only $19.95. Did I say that already?

But that's not all . . .

Even better, we've got Microsoft Windows 95 2.1 OEM with USB for only $17.49. Are people still running Microsoft Windows 95? Still buying it? Yes, there are markets for Windows 95. Most of them international, and a few in obscure vertical markets domestically . . . but people still need it, and still buy it. And, with the advent of Windows Vista, you will see later generation OSes like Windows '98, Windows 2000 (my personal favorite) and Windows XP holding on for even longer than venerable classic OSes like '95 and NT Workstation 4.0.

Only $17.49, as of this posting, for Windows 95 OEM with USB. Only $19.95 for Windows NT Workstation 4.0. As of this posting. And as of this posting, we've still got 'em in stock. Get 'em while the gettin' is good.

Trend Micro PC-Cillin

We've sold a lot more Trend Micro software than we're currently carrying, and we hope to again. But right now we've got a great price on Trend Micro's PC-Cillin Internet Security 2008 1-USER OEM (part# TIS085671). That price being $14.95, or $13.95 if you purchase 20 or more.

As I may have mentioned, even though the goal of this blog is in no small part to promote our store (and educate, of course!) I prefer to write about things about which I actually have something to say, or have direct experience.

I have direct experience with PC-Cillin, as it's running on my daughter's Dell Laptop (which is also running Windows Vista, which I'm not a huge fan of--for many reasons--but sometimes you need it and, anyway, this post isn't about Vista). It works well. As with all Internet Security software, the updates are frequent and intrusive, which I'm not a big fan of, but I have yet to see Internet Security software that works (for free, or at any price) that isn't intrusive in some way or others, and updates to have to be frequent in order to ensure security.

For the home user, I'd recommend PC-Cillin over Symantec, or AVG (which I use at work). Panda Anti-Virus and Internet Security (which I've used, and can be a little more intrusive, in my opinion, than PC-Cillin, but does the job and more at a great price) or PC-Cillin are better choices for the home user. We also carry the very popular Kaspersky line of Internet Security and Anti-virus products, but I haven't actually used them myself, so I'm not in a position to review them. But if you've used them and you like them, we've got some great prices on them, so come on by!