Wohooo .. I've just made the change from Norton IS 2004 to a combination of Outpost Pro and Avast. What a stunning breath of fresh air!
I'll agree wholeheartedly about getting rid of Norton though. What a royal pain in the rear end!
When it was installed, it was slooooooow, and to get rid of it took the best part of 2 hours! It's a tragedy that Symantec seem to be buying up the rest of the workd (e.g. Powerquest).
Anyhow, I'm now in the brave new world of Avast! and, so far, so good. Setting up mail with Thunderbird, with 3 POP accounts, was a bit of a pain, but ultimately successful.
So, to the OP, I'd say you're well rid of Norton and, so far, Avast! looks like it may just be the answer.