Avast acquires antivirus maker AVG for $1.3BN

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by EraserHW, Jul 7, 2016.

  1. guest

    guest Guest

    What is the deadline of the approval?
    Any estimate?
     
  2. vlk

    vlk AV Expert

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  3. plat1098

    plat1098 Guest

    Wow, this is interesting. If it was possible to strip away all the frou-frou, at the core, AVG was a very good product, it really was. So much so, that I may be looking in that direction again sometime. They would have ditched AVG's .... "customer service" ....then, good news.
     
  4. Daveski17

    Daveski17 Registered Member

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    I'm not going to get too excited about this. AVG was once probably the most popular free AV there was. I never used it but I know many who did and who would recommended it at the drop of a hat. Avast! was once a very good and competent AV free or otherwise. I don't run it anymore. If I was an optimist I'd say that this merger could result in a really good anti virus company and product. Unfortunately, I'm not an optimist.
     
  5. Ibrad

    Ibrad Registered Member

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    Hey VLK now that the two products are merging can I propose that we call the new product Ewido :p
     
  6. TairikuOkami

    TairikuOkami Registered Member

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    So they will keep selling AVG and Avast separately with their own GUI and such, but basically they will be the same underneath. A good idea, profitable.
    AVG and Avast with minimal modules installed run quite nicely, but the problem is, the default setup is bundled with useless junk, which drags it down.
     
  7. gery

    gery Registered Member

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    One good idea is to make something like trustport using both engines with mixed GUI thus make everyone happy
     
  8. gery

    gery Registered Member

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    Maybe calling it AVGAST
     
  9. vlk

    vlk AV Expert

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    We are calling it AVAST ;)
     
  10. plat1098

    plat1098 Guest

    AGHAST? Oh sorry, AVAST! OK.
     
  11. entropism

    entropism Registered Member

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    If you run Avast For Business (it's free) it's a MUCH better, stripped down version of their home software without any of the bloat. It's really a nice option.

    https://business.avast.com/

    Edit: I'd love to see if they change AVG's policy of selling user info on their free versions. Or, if Avast adopts this practice as well, which would be sad.
     
  12. clocks

    clocks Registered Member

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    Interesting, but the installer seems very buggy. First it told me I had to reboot my computer for some reason. Then it does not allow me to uncheck the mail shield, and it actually won't install at all.
     
  13. Daveski17

    Daveski17 Registered Member

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    I used to run a minimal Avast, but it started to act buggy, so I switched back to my original AV. I don't really like the direction Avast! are going in now.
     
  14. anon

    anon Registered Member

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    What the acquisition means for the 400 million Avast and AVG users (Q&A)
    September 30, 2016
    https://www.the-parallax.com/2016/09/30/what-buyout-means-400-million-avast-avg-users-qa/

     
  15. quietman

    quietman Registered Member

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    ..... my underline above.

    Yes , that was the last straw for me .
    I dropped AVG after many years of use .
     
  16. vlk

    vlk AV Expert

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    Thanks, guys.

    At Avast, we take our users' privacy very seriously. We process large amounts of data -- some of which are quite sensitive -- and we make sure we not only comply with the all the laws, rules and legal regulations, but that we also act ethically and in the interest of the users.

    With that, in all transparency, I'd like to bring to your attention the fact that Avast, as most other Internet companies, also makes use of (some of) the data. Namely, we supply data to Jumpshot, an analytics company that we launched some time ago. You can read more about it here: https://blog.avast.com/2015/05/29/avast-data-drives-new-analytics-engine and/or check it out directly on their website www.jumpshot.com . What's important is that all the data supplied by Avast to Jumpshot is not only anonymized, but also fully aggregated, meaning that there is zero possibility to track back any of the data points to individual user level. The way it works is similar to e.g. studies done in large hospitals. While it's totally unacceptable that a hospital would pass a patient's medical record to a 3rd party, it is a common practice that hospitals do studies on anonymized, aggregated sets of patients (to produce insights such as "of 641 patients diagnosed with a type-3 glioblastoma brain tumor, 227 passed away in the first three months"). As you can imagine, the medical world is scrutinized on daily basis by various privacy regulators and in general, has a much stricter level of privacy enforcement, but yet, such studies are very common. This is what makes us comfortable with the whole concept, even though yes this is thin ice and anyone doing business in this area has to be extremely careful about not losing common sense.

    Thanks
    Vlk
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2016
  17. Alexhousek

    Alexhousek Registered Member

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    Wow. I am impressed by the transparency. Thank you for being willing to come on here and share that information.
     
  18. clocks

    clocks Registered Member

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    VLK - Is the business version of Avast referrenced above just the installer without the supplimental apps? Or are there differences beyond that. thanks
     
  19. hayc59

    hayc59 Updates Team

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    @ VLK...hello and good luck!
    I would like a stripped down less junk full do a great job AV FREE version..is that doable i the future?
    thank you Gordon
     
  20. ance

    ance formerly: fmon

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    I would like a free AV with AVG and Avast engine but without all the junk. :thumb:

    Thank you.
     
  21. entropism

    entropism Registered Member

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    https://www.avast.com/en-us/avast-for-business

    It SEEMS they have the mail AV running on the server end, not the client. I don't have an install in front of me anymore or I would say for sure.

    Edit - Nope. Just tried installing. File, Mail and Web shields are installed. Shouldn't make too much of a difference, I can't see the mail shield weighing things down if you never use a mail client.
     
  22. clocks

    clocks Registered Member

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    But is it any different than just using th consumer installer, and unchecking the other stuff? The reason I ask, is I had a lot of issues with the business installer for whatever reason.
     
  23. vlk

    vlk AV Expert

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    The business product is equivalent in terms of protection (has the same engine and protection modules as the consumer version of Avast), and is indeed pretty quiet today.
    However, I can't really guarantee it will continue to be offered free of charge. The reason is that with AVG, we bought a pretty sizable SMB business which is in direct competition with Avast's -- and undercutting AVG's business by offering a free version of Avast may not be the brightest business idea, as I'm sure you understand... Not to mention that it really upsets our channel partners.

    By all means we're trying to produce useful stuff here (not junk), but I understand that unlike some other users, you may not have the need for the additional modules. For these cases, we offer the Custom install option which allows you to install only the products/features you want.

    Thanks
    Vlk
     
  24. hamlet

    hamlet Registered Member

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    Hi, VLK. Sorry if this has been asked before, but is it going to be possible to transfer a license key from AVG over to use with Avast? I have an AVG license that has a good amount of time left on it, but the product has been working less well on my computer lately, causing slow downs, throwing a few false positives, etc. Honestly, I assume the answer to this question is "no", but I figured I would ask anyway. :cool:
     
  25. clocks

    clocks Registered Member

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    Understand completely. Makes sense. thanks
     
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