According to the Santa Clara-based security outfit

Feb 8, 2010 12:16 GMT  ·  By

McAfee has releases a major upgrade to its 2010 consumer product lineup boasting expanded threat protection, boosted performance and an overhauled graphical user interface. Today, February 8th, 2010, the Santa Clara-based security outfit has revealed that the upgrades are already available for download in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, for customers running McAfee Total Protection 2010, McAfee Internet Security 2010 and McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2010. According to the security company, customers already owning a McAfee product subscription will be automatically upgraded to the latest release of the security software.

"Every feature of this release is best-of-breed," revealed Javed Hasan, vice president of product management for the McAfee consumer product group. "The new enhancements for this 2010 Q1 release offer consumers what they want: strong and unobtrusive protection with market-leading performance. With McAfee, consumers are protected by the same intelligence and technology used to defend governments and Fortune 500 companies around the world."

The evolved threat protection brought to the table by the new McAfee 2010 major upgrade means that customers running the security solution will now be able to enjoy added security when downloading and accessing content via the Internet. McAfee has also worked to improve the performance of their products, delivering what it claims to be faster scans, by no less than 325%, and non-intrusive updates, which are only given green light when that machine is idle. At the same time, the upgrade offers a revamped GUI designed to simplify user experience.

“Using McAfee SiteAdvisor technology, the upgraded 2010 products now also offer: web download protection, and URL reputation ratings. Unsurpassed performance: scans are up to eight times faster, the products boast the fastest installation to date, during scans, memory usage has been reduced by 50%, McAfee software for 2010 requires less space on a user's hard drive and utilizes fewer processes. Easiest to use: McAfee software for 2010 now automatically adjusts to smaller screen sizes such as netbook PCs,” the company explained.

In addition, customers will be able to take advantage of such features as Online Backup, Parental Controls and Protected Home Networks. McAfee Total Protection 2010 costs $79.99 for a 3-user license, while McAfee Internet Security 2010 is $69.99 for a 3-user license, and McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2010 is $59.99, also for a 3-user license.