There has been a few threads in the Adobe Fireworks forum recently where some users were having performance issues with Fireworks on Windows machines. Most of the time, their problems can be traced back to their using either Norton or McAfee antivirus software. Both of those are notorious resources hogs that use ungodly amounts of RAM and CPU power and slow down people’s computers, even with today’s powerful hardware.
I have used both antivirus software in the past and can vouch from experience that they can bring a computer down to its keens in terms of performance. This was several years ago when computers were already much slower than today but it seems not much has changed since then. You would think that both AV software vendors would have improved the well known and documented performance issues with their offerings but it seems that the same problems their users were facing 8 to 10 years ago are still present today. If at least those applications were actually good at what they were created to do (finding and removing viruses) then you might forgive a performance hit but every shootout or test I have read in the last 2 or 3 years shows that they are barely adequate at their primary task.
If you are also having performance issues with Fireworks or any other application and you are using either Norton or McAfee products, I would strongly advise that you re-examine your choice and look for other and better alternatives. After having tried countless antivirus packages and researched the issue thoroughly, I settled on Eset‘s NOD32 about 3 years ago and I have had no problem whatsoever since then. NOD32 has the smallest resources footprint of all antivirus software but also the best detection and removal track record. It won’t slow down your system and will not hinder your email application. It’s really well worth the price.
Another very good alternative is AVG AntiVirus wich I ran before NOD32. They also have a free version with most of the pro version’s features.
If you are using Norton or McAffee products, you owe it to yourself to try better alternatives and regain your system’s power and performance, especially if your regularly use resources intensive graphics applications like Fireworks or any other similar software. Don’t just take my word for it, try them…