Avast 2014 Released

+1

I miss this greatly.

 

They wanted to simplify the interface and move all the non essential stuff away from the main panel. They also wanted to keep informations down to a minimum. So if it says "Everything is ok", that's all users need to know.

I love extra info and all but in all honesty, i don't really need it. Since 2014 BETA i'm not missing the info at all. It just works.

 

I like that you can backup/restore config file with all settings. If they made it cloud - in the account it would be great.

 

I installed the latest version of avast yesterday and overall my first impressions are good.
I havent experienced any visible issues with it and it seems to run smoothly and efficiently.

There are a few graphical changes etc but nothing too drastic.
A fine release and im going to keep avast on my computer for a week or so to see how it behaves but at this time i have no issues to report and i may keep this one.

 

Don't misunderstand... your fanboyism is quite lovely. And you grasp simple minds need simple things; ignorance is bliss. The world is perfect. Happy happy joy joy! Nor do I want it misconstrued I dismiss the non non essential and overwhelming importance of what you really need and what you determine users need to know.

Anyhow, as fully acknowledged right here in Wilders by the developer's top dog, their Cloud Services are critical (essential, so to speak) to protection. And with a quick browse of the Web site, they're the most prominent sales bullet points and cited to lay claims to superiority in the marketplace.

You and many users know the "it just works" Cloud Services were down for days on several occasions in the recent past and it was then the "Everything is OK" aberration gained some notoriety in several arenas, including the Avast forum.

My point simply (Because simple is what you really need. See? I hear you!) is that optic seemingly remains unchanged in v9 so the connection status was buried where one can't readily notice something (not everything, so to speak) is not OK. THAT'S ALL.

End of discussion. Cheers!

 

Here we go...

 

Except that they weren't down during the weekend... only the regular def updates were; but the cloud (FileRep/WebRep/DeepScreen), as well as streaming updates, were up'n'running...

But I hear you, a better status monitoring of the cloud connectivity sounds like a good idea. The new Stats screen would be a good place for that.

Cheers
The_Top_Dog

 

Are the fairly verbose AD's connected to the update notification still there? I used to love Avast but I can't stand any pop up advertisements.

 

I don't see AD in update popups (as they are switched off ) but huge bulk of unwelcomed ad is in the gui what is annoying.

 

how is this 2014 avast?

 

I agree.

Avast use to be a clean AV. Now Ads in the GUI, Greyed paid features options, etc... unnecessary & annoying.

 

Wait, what? So you prefer ads that stick out of the GUI, ads that pop above the taskbar and other truly annoying crap? Or the main interface full of buttons that don't do anything (premium stuff)?

avast! is one of the cleanest AV's in existence. It has that banner in main menu and that's pretty much it. It has items greyed out, but none is located on the main panel like with AVIRA or Ad-aware. It's neatly hidden underneath main menus. And it has no annoying panels that stick out of the GUI like Pctools AV used to have or how AVG still has.

So, why exactly are you complaining where avast! is in fact by far better than all the rest of free ones? Hell, Android version of avast! even has the option to disable "Premium" button. How cool is that?

 

Oh I'm awfully sorry to be so impolite to venerable avast the best. Even its greyed out items are so sexy and neatly hidden underneath, promising something even sweeter then what is given free .

and nothing sicking out...

 

It doesn't seem possible for some people to understand that free AVs are not actually freeware, they are adware. Ads can be placed in a product intrusively or non-intrusively. The ads in Avast are the least intrusive of the free AVs I've used. For those who can't tolerate ads there's a solution called a subscription.

 

There is also MSE or Panda Cloud Free, neither of which resort to such nonsense...

 

Don't blame the user for their literal interpretation of the language used for the product. If the product is adware then it should labeled as such so as to not give an impression that it is something it isn't.

 

That is a choice that Microsoft and Panda Security make for those products and if you find them sufficient then you're good to go. Personally I don't find MSE or Panda Cloud Free sufficient and so I use Avast Free and accept the ads. Referring to the ads that Avast and other companies place in their AVs as "nonsense" denies the fact that those companies see advertizing as necessary to their bottom line. I avoid advertizing whenever possible, but it is clearly necessary for the support of some products and services which I would otherwise have to pay for and so I put up with it in those instances.

 

I feel that you are also being quite literal here. Have you ever been under the impression that Avast Free, or any other free AV, was completely free of advertizing? It is perfectly clear that a great many products are advertized as "free" when in fact that only means you don't have to pay money for them, not that they are without advertizing or data mining, etc. Marketing can sometimes be quite dishonest in this regard, but in the case of Avast I don't see an attempt to hide the fact that the free product is a platform for advertizing the subscription products in exchange for quite good protection. Since I don't find the ads in Avast offensive I feel it's an acceptable trade off.

 

The problem is that paying customers are seeing the ads too.so it isnt confined to the free users.

 

I haven't been using an Avast subscription product so don't know about this. Can you say more about what you're seeing?

 

I use the free version and the so-called ads dont bother me.The avast forum is full of paying customers still seeing ads in the paid products.

 

It does seem to be a popular way to go nowadays. It's a personal decision that I make, not to use products that do that. I guess it's my pet peev.. I prefer the approach of making a 1st rate free offering with no ads or other "nonsense", and then let that good clean product be it's own advertising for the paid version. People should see the free product and see that it's good, and hopefully a percentage of those people will be moved to buy the paid version, with more and better features. That's how I like to see it. Obviously, things have changed, and many think advertising is the way to go now. I think it cheapens an otherwise good product, but that's my view. I will almost always go with an ad-free product, or if necessary, pay for one.

 

I don't mind the ads so much...its the social networking stuff aka facebook and twitter promotion that annoys me .In avast i can turn it off in the main interface,but then it shows in the damn widget.These two seem to be embedded in every thing ...free stuff and the paid.Out of curiosity.. do vendors such as avast get remuneration for putting these social networking links in? or is it just the "cool" thing to do these days?

 

Well, its how avast! spreads its reputation.

 

Really, I'm with you on this. I wish people were motivated to embrace the old shareware model and would be willing to pay for software after they decided it was useful (or support the vendor by buying a "pro" version, etc), but how many are? I have occasionally bought a license when the free version of a product was already meeting my needs to support a vendor, but not always. I think it's fair to say that it isn't a reliable business model. "In your face" advertizing is one of the alternatives. The noise level keeps getting louder as more and more people try to get our attention - more advertizing, social media links, etc. It all really sucks. I use Avast Free at the moment because it's the least obnoxious and only in my virtual machine. On my host OS I use a paid product with zero ads and social media links. That said I understand that the software developers are in a difficult position and it seems to me they are turning to crappy marketing models for lack of a better way.