Symantec's Web Support Site Named One of the Year's Ten Best

CUPERTINO, Calif. - July 17, 2000- Symantec Corporation (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced that for the third consecutive year, the company's technical support Web site, http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/index.html, has been selected as one of the year's ten best online Web support sites by the Association of Support Professionals, an international organization dedicated to the advancement of the technical support profession.

"Market trends indicate that many companies are transitioning to Web-based customer support models because of the Internet's ubiquity and ease-of-use," said Jeffrey Tarter, executive director of Association of Support Professionals. "Companies, however, must invest a lot time and resources to develop a comprehensive, robust Web support site that will be beneficial for its customers- and Symantec is an excellent example of a company doing just that."

A panel of Association of Support Professionals members judged the sites. Each year, the ten winners are profiled in a special report that offers an inside look at site design, personalization and community-building techniques, knowledgebase technology, performance metrics, and other critical issues. Additional information about the annual "Year's Ten Best Web Support Sites" awards can be found on the Association's Web page, http://www.asponline.com. Symantec's online technical support site has also recently received Supportgate.com's WebStar award for 2000.

"Symantec's goal has always been to provide customers with reliable and industry-leading technical support options," said Chris Monnette, senior director, Symantec Services. "With more than 80 percent of Symantec's customers utilizing our Web support site, it is an honor to receive the Association's recognition for our leadership in providing our consumers with an easy-to-use, comprehensive site."

Symantec's online technical support site provides a number of automated and interactive tools for customers to get help including:

• More than 50 searchable and browsable product Knowledge Bases, with more than 55,000 public articles.
• An Interactive Troubleshooter that helps customers find answers to their questions using a decision-tree to quickly locate specific information and guidance.
• Streaming online tutorials that describe how to use specific parts of selected Symantec software - most useful in situations that are difficult to explain through written text.
• Web-based discussion groups that leverage a collective body of shared information.
• An extensive library of file and update downloads.
• The ability for customers to personalize their support page, ensuring quick and simple access to information focused on the products they own.
• Real-time chat with Symantec online support technicians.

Symantec's Canadian operations are headquartered in Toronto with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver. For more information on Symantec products or current promotions, contact the Canadian office at (416) 441-3676 or access Symantec's Canadian web-site at www.symantec.ca. Symantec is an active member of the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST).

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FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT: This press release contains forward-looking statements. There are certain important factors that could cause Symantec's future development efforts to differ materially from those anticipated by some of the statements made above. Among these are the anticipation of the growth of certain market segments, the positioning of Symantec's products in those segments, the competitive environment in the software industry, new security threats, dependence on other products, changes to operating systems and product strategy by vendors of operating systems, and the importance of new Symantec products. Additional information concering those and other factors is contained in the "Risk Factors" section of the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 2, 1999.