Peter Norton Computing

Peter Norton Computing, Inc., was a software company founded by Peter Norton. The first and most notable software package it produced is the Norton Utilities. Another very popular software was Norton Commander, especially the DOS version. In 1990, the company was acquired by Symantec. The acquired company became a division of Symantec and was renamed Peter Norton Computing Group. Most of Norton Computing's 115 employees were retained.

The Symantec merger helped Norton Computing regain the market share it was losing to competitors, especially Central Point Software. Norton Computing's revenues tripled between June of 1990 and September of 1991, and by November it appeared to have regained the market lead over Central Point. Norton Computing's merger with Symantec has since been cited as one of the most successful acquisitions in the software industry.

Peter Norton was born in 1943 and was an avid programmer, author, philanthropist and computer science tutor.

PNC software launched prior to Symantec acquisition

• Norton Utilities (1982) (√ Merged with Norton System Works)
• Norton Editor (1985)
• Norton Guides (1985)
• Norton Commander (1986) √
• Norton Backup (1990) √
• Norton Utilities for Macintosh (1990) √

√ denotes software that continues to be published after the acquisition by Symantec. (Check listed for standalone and integrated components within packages)

PNC software launched after Symantec acquisition

• Norton AntiVirus (NAV)
• Norton AntiVirus for Mac (NAV)
• Norton AntiVirus (Windows) (NavW)
• Norton CleanSweep (NCS)
• Norton Desktop for DOS (NDD)
• Norton Desktop for Apple (NDA)
• Norton Desktop for Windows (NDW)
• Norton SystemWorks (NSW)
• Norton Uninstall (NUD)
• Norton Uninstaller (NUW)

See also

• List of Symantec acquisitions.