McAfee Consumer Products Enter Public Beta

The consumer division in Network Associates' McAfee Business Unit on Thursday announced the first public beta release of its consumer products line, which includes the popular McAfee VirusScan suite. The company has opened participation to all interested parties, and is also looking for suggestions from testers as it revamps the beta program.

The list of betas includes McAfee VirusScan Home Edition 7.0, McAfee VirusScan Professional Edition 7.0, McAfee Internet Security 5.0, McAfee Firewall 4.0, and McAfee QuickClean 3.0. Each program is expected to run until mid-July and contain two beta phases and a release candidate. Release notes are available, along with a "Getting Started Guide" for those not familiar with the product.

Notable changes include Microsoft Office integration and a malicious script stopper in the VirusScan 7.0 beta, and a home network wizard in McAfee Firewall. The upcoming version of McAfee Internet Security will feature spyware detection, a pop-up blocker, and newsgroup filtering.

For those interested in the McAfee Consumer Products beta program, the company has set up a new Web site that lists products in beta and general information on beta testing. Details of specific features to thoroughly test in each release are covered as well. The company requests that all bugs or questions be sent via e-mail.