Frosty welcome for Norton 2000 solution

Y2K Consultants have given Symantec's Norton 2000 millennium "solution" a frosty welcome. The application - aimed at corporates - claims to help solve Y2K problems but consultants warn that for companies the problems may lie too deep.

According to a release, Norton 2000 provides a "comprehensive solution for desktop PCs and distributed computing environments" but the real problem, say consultants, lies with bespoke software and the only solution is to either return to the programmer or call in a trained Y2K professional.

Stephen Garside, product manager at Symantec did not disagree with the warnings: "I'm reticent to say that any product will solve problems 100%," he says, adding that the aim of Norton 2000 is not to solve Y2K issues, rather "to detect them and give the user the ability to fix them". However, Ben Stock, a consultant for London-based Harlequin IT Services says: "Whilst effective for the home user, for corporations this type of product is not enough. A consultant is an absolute necessity."

Norton 2000 will be available in two versions: a corporate version available from the end of July and a consumer version available in September. The product includes data scanning, an application scan database and BIOS test and fix. In addition LiveUpdate and Norton System Centre will be added in September.

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