I would imagine its just like ordering Microsoft products, you download directly from the manufacturer which means you get the latest RTM build.  Symantec's basic maintenance plan does include patches and upgrades.  Although Symantec's use of the word "upgrade" is very generic. I read their sales does not include version upgrades but updates to your current version.  I would definitely try before you buy because I have run into some support issues with Symantec's Backup exec.

The support article you referenced is about Windows 7 beta. If you are using a beta version, you will want to get away from that.  Good luck.

Thank you, Carlos. Anyone else? By the way, I'm not using Windows 7 beta. I am a little cautious, though, after learning that our current Symantec Enterprise product is not "updatable" to a version that works with Windows 7. We only have one Windows 7 computer now, and I had to go find a standalone antivirus solution for it. As we start to get more Windows 7 computers, I want to be sure that the antivirus solution we purchase will work.

Teija

Hello Teija, in looking at the system requirements for both Tech Soup Symantec enterprise offerings, neither are compatible with Windows 7.  You may want to hold off on getting an AV solution until Tech Soup gets the enterprise products that support Windows 7. 

As a side note, our org still purchases computers with Windows XP as it is the latest OS that is compatible with our medical records software.  Hope this is some help.

Best of luck,

Gary

We bought SEP from TechSoup, I only have one Windows7 machine but it seems to run fine on it.  But I only run the AV part, not the rest of the package.  It deployed and has stayed up to date with no issues for a few months.

Hi, 

Just as an update in case you're still needing info, we just purchased SEP from Techsoup and deployed it in our community center. The version I got from Symantec was 11.0.6. I installed the Manager console on Windows server 2003 and the clients on Windows 7 and XP. Appears to be working well. Only trouble I have had so far is deploying the client. In previous versions you could push the client from the server or install manually on the pc. Now if you try to install manually on the machine it will tell you that managed clients need to get pushed from the server. On the Management console it can scan your network for PCs but I have not been able to get that to work. It sits on scanning then eventually timeouts. I can give it a specific IP and finds the computer then I can push the client to it, but having to do one a time is a pain. I have not had a chance to engage Symantec about this issue. I did turn off the firewall on all the machines but did not correct this problem.

Thanks for your responses.  I think I'm going to see about upgrading to Symantec Protection Suite Small Business Edition, which provides all that I need plus anti-spam protection.

Teija

We purchased through Techsoup and implemented SEP 11.05 on our SBS2008r2 servers and our Windows 7 computers.   All SW is full release (no Betas).   This implementation works.  However, Symantec does not provide support for their products that are sold through Techsoup.  I have had to rely on the Symantec forums to get answers to my techincal questions.  A couple of notes about SEP:

1. Do not implement the SEP Firewall on the server.  There are a couple of posts that state you should not.

2. At this time I am having an intermitent problem with both SEP firewall and Windows firewal being active at the same time on my Windows 7 computers.  I am still trying to resolve this issue.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the tip, TJLocke!  Yes, part of the price of getting the donation via TechSoup is the lack of technical support.  I find it strange that some companies won't let you buy that at a normal, per-incident price.  Oh well...

To properly disable Windows 7 Firewall in an SBS2008 environment you have to change the existing group policy settings for client computers on the Group Policy Manager in SBS - otherwise GroupPolicy will just override any manual change you make.

Shipley:

I did set up the GPO  on the SBS2008r2 server to turn off windows firewall on the client computers several months ago, however, this is an intermittent problem that continues to this day.  Sometimes Windows firewall is active and sometimes it is not.  When it is not there is nothing I can to to shut it off except reboot the computer and hope that the GPO works the next time.  Actually the SBS2008 comes with that GPO not enabled as default so that the end user can control Windows Firewall.

I have been working the Symantec forums and am now calling Microsoft for support with the SBS.  I did notice that Symantec has just released the 11.0.6 SEP and I downloaded that last night and will try upgrading 11.0.5 with the hopes that will fix the issue.

Hmm - have you checked local policies?  That is strange.

Sorry - Local Policies?  Where Do I find that?

Here is what I did to turn off the Windows Firewall in the client computers (following the instructions from MS and Symantec):

1. From the Start menu, select Run, then enter gpedit.msc.
2. Expand the Computer Configuration folder, then the Administrative Templates folder.
3. Expand the Network folder, then the Network Connections folder, then the Windows Firewall folder.
4. Select the Standard Profile folder.
5. Double-click the Windows Firewall: Protect all network connections option.
6. Select Disabled, then click OK.
7. Close the Group Policy dialog box
8. From the Start menu, select Run, then enter gpupdate /force.
 

I'm lost, TJLocke.  gpedit.msc is the local policy.  Can you uninstall the Symantec Firewall and just use the Windows one?

What you may also want to explore is the Free Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware/Anti-Malware from Microsoft, Microsoft Security Essentials, it is ranked in the top 5 of all anti-malware products both commercial and non-commercial; http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

However for central management and security you may need to wait for the new product called Windows Intune, which is a cloud-based solution from Microsoft that gives you the central management and security. Hopefully techsoup will engage Microsoft to add this to the Stock here on Techsoup.

See the website here; http://www.windowsintune.com

See the video demo here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBIhLWXUhmY

Excellent! Thanks for the heads-up on this! According to their FAQ, the service will launch publicly in about a year and there’s no pricing for it yet, although it will be a monthly payment service and not cloud based freeware.

-jim