More advanced technology opportunities are now available to students through the Information Technology Committee of Student Senate.

The committee, which represents students regarding all student technology issues, renewed contracts with Symantec Corporation over winter break and updated their version of Microsoft products, thus making technology for students on campus easier, said ITC director Andy Brehm.

Specifically, Norton Antivirus is now available to students for free and Webmail has been upgraded.

Norton Antivirus

With the renewal of Symantec Corporation’s contract with UW-Eau Claire, students can download a free copy of Norton Antivirus software.

Previously, the software was only offered directly from Norton on a trial basis for 30 days, with the option then to buy it or let it expire, Brehm said.

“It’s a really great service that students should take advantage of,” Brehm said. “It protects their personal computer and the chances of contracting a virus will be a lot less.”

To download a copy of Norton Antivirus, students should go to http://norton.uwec.edu and login with their username and password and follow the instructions

If there are problems downloading the software, the CNS desk has copies to check out also, said Mike Skarp, a member of Computing and Networking ServicesSkarp.

Only the PC version of the software is available, as the Mac version isn’t finished, but it will be available in the future.

While the version is free to students and faculty, only one download is allowed for each username. The software must also be uninstalled when leaving the university, Skarp said.

Before downloading the copy, there are a couple things to be aware of, Brehm said.

“Make any big changes to your computer first because you won’t be able to do it again,” he said. “Do all your updates first.”

Microsoft Outlook Web Access

After coming back from winter break, students and faculty may have noticed some changes to the Webmail system.

The new features added were distribution and folder lists, notifications when a new message is received, log out availablity without closing the whole program and easier to send attachments, Brehm said.

“The spell checker is also now available,” Carol Accola, manager of student computing environment, said.

These changes occurred because a new version of Webmail was released by Microsoft in fall, but the university waited until break to upgrade.

Another version of Webmail will come out in the summer, which will have even more features beneficial to students, Brehm said.

One thing students are possibly not aware of is Webmail can be used anywhere as long as you have a web browser, Accola said.

“I would encourage every student using Eudora or Hotmail to look at Webmail now and just re-examine it and take a look at it again,” Brehm said. “It’s a great program that works very effectively.”