Symantec opened the public beta of Norton 360 5.0, the latest version of the company's end-to-end security suite. This beta builds upon the updated versions of Norton Antivirus and Norton Internet Security, and improves the usability and performance in the backup and tune-up features exclusive to Norton 360, revamps the online backup user experience, and integrates with Norton's free online tools.

New Features
The revamped UI in Norton 360 puts all of the different tools: Antivirus protection, online backup, Identity protection, Norton Safe Web, Norton Online Family, automatic PC tune-up and the global threat protection map are all displayed on the main screen, and settings/security controls for each are organized underneath.
Norton 360 5.0 now includes resource management for third-party apps on your PC. Norton 360 can immediately alert you, if a particular piece of software you have installed is using a lot of system resources. If alerts aren't your thing, you can check out resource logs to compare third party app behavior.
As with any security package, performance remains a paramount issue. Symantec says it is working to improve backup and restore performance, reduce system impact, and increase valuable communication with users in Norton 360. PC Tuneups, one of the most popular features of 360 are also faster, the company told us.
Additionally, the Bootable Recovery Tool Wizard, Norton's malware removal tool to get inoperable systems up and running again, can now be booted from USB or CD/DVD.