Buying Fifth Generation could make Symantec a high-end heavy. (Fifth Generation Systems Inc.) (Brief Article)

Users moving into high-end network computing environments will have more choices available for managing those systems after last week's announcement that Symantec Corp. will acquire Fifth Generation Systems Inc., analysts and users said.

"This agreement definitely brings Symantec into the high-end utility market and up against such players as Central Point Software and even Microsoft and Novell," said Brent Williams, an analyst with International Data Corp., in Mountain View, Calif.

Symantec said it will acquire Baton Rouge, La.-based Fifth Generation, a developer of backup and security utilities for DOS, Windows, OS/2, Unix, Macintosh, and NetWare operating …