McAffee is just as huge.Norton used to be such a huge resources hog, it worked reasonably well but slowed your computer to a crawl. And it didn't play well with Windows XP.
So, I was not pleased when my Internet provider switched from free McAfee virus protection to Norton this past year. But we wanted something that was updated 24/7 and was reasonably efficient and that we didn't have to pay extra for. So we gave it a try.
It still has a glitch now and then that bogs the computers down, but they are past their prime now so just about everything does. But we have experience very few of the problems with Norton that we encountered in the past.
Here is a pretty good review on the modern Norton system:
Make the bad PC stuff go away-Norton got Leaner and Meaner - Symantec Norton Internet Security 2010 - Viewpoints
There's no simple uninstall.
You end up on the phone or chat with support for 3 hours going through the whole uninstall process.
Just when you think you have it completely gone and you're free of it, the AVG or Avast that you've installed to replace it finds some lingering kernel of it and tags it as a Virus!!
Well you may be right, but that may be one of the problem areas they have reformed? Our Norton Security Suite comes with a full uninstall feature. I guess we won't know until we use it though.