Avast 6 beta available!

+1

 

In the Avast forums VLK mentioned that in the original build of the beta, the sandbox was not working right. They plan to put a new build out there in a few hours.

 

6.0.945 available from the update menu, as mentioned by Rednose.

 

A few people have kept stating that this is an early beta. Since when is a public beta considered an early beta? Before anyone decides that I hate Avast, I don't. I actually like Avast & have it installed on one of my machines. That being said, I'm not impressed with this beta so far.

 

oh jimmie, thats not fair.

A closed door beta has fewer participants and less chance of encountering all the different softwares and set-ups. You can think you have a closed door beta ready for RC until you open it up and find out you have alot yet to accomplish. So a beta is a beta, unless it is a plakat.

As far as Avast, I am very disappointed that this is all that version 6 brought forth. Another paint job with a few extras that have yet to prove their worth.

 

Early beta is when you get the first public beta. It's what it is called. Early beta.
I don't get it why are you so shocked. This is a major build change, not a minor update that is usually already pretty much ready for public release.
All major releases so far required far more attention and there were far more issues found. But when the program is rolled out to the public, it's pretty much bug free. What's left are usually much more specific issues that require special attention or are found later when the thing goes to public.

 

Just give Avast! time to polish the suite

People are really expecting too much from a beta

 

minus internal testing avast always does public betas for reasons that have already been mentioned

 

Announcement and download links.

 

I would consider it an early beta until there is a Release Candidate out.

 

Um, we have no idea what stage they are in.

Regardless, if you are going to release a PUBLIC beta, well, you leave yourself open to people publicly stating problems.

That's as simple as it is. If you don't want the public to talk about it or even complain, then don't make it public.

 

Never said that people couldn't comment about it. IMHO that is the reason it is a public beta so they can get as much feedback as possible before final release.

 

a few problems when doing a update. many people including myself have the issue of windows not recognizing avast from the update. to fix it do clean install.

also i had a few features not installed from a custom install. after the update it installed the features i did not have installed. it added them back in.

 

Fair enough...not really directed at you, just others complaining about it being an early beta. So? Don't make it public yet then if you don't think it will be accepted or work properly. That's all I was saying.

 

I hear ya. I think Avast as a company is counting on positive and negative feedback. It's the only was to give the consumers what they want, even though you can't please everyone.

 

I am realizing that some companies get a bit of a pass in instances like this. Right or wrong, the verdict is "It's just a beta". Other companies are accused of releasing half finished products and the fact that it's a beta is ignored. Anyway, as I said before I like Avast & I hope they work out these bugs very soon.

 

Agreed. Avast offers a great product for free. How can you not like that?

I'm going to give the beta another chance after trying to fix the issue with Windows Firewall if I can.

 

From the looks of it you were expecting a traditional Symantec interface facelift with minimal actual changes. Looks huge on paper and visually, doesn't look any different in real world.

There are several major changes in version 6 and also great benefits to the free users as well. And payable users will also get a great benefit from SafeZone feature once they add it. It doesn't have to be visually different to actually be different.

Well, just look at it realistically. Loads of things were and still are broken, some features like SafeZone are not even active. What would you consider this to be then? This is stuff that's not for late beta or RC. So yes, it's an early beta. We consider it to be RC when Vlk says "ok, we are getting close to a release, this will probably be the last beta before the final release".
It's how he usually announces that the program has reached their expectations and that there are no large show stoppers left, preventing the public release of the stable version.

 

Well, if "loads" of things are still broken, in my opinion, it should not be a public beta. As someone who ran a software company for 10 years, I wouldn't even think of releasing a public beta early on like that.

And if you do, well, you are open to people calling you out on it. That's all there is to it. Personally, I would have waited until a bit later to release a public beta.

 

Well, then what's the point of doing the beta test if the program is already bug free? Or even worse like i've experienced in AVG's case, reported bugs even after release never got fixed.

Such early betas have the power:
- to find some really naughty bugs because of the variety of software combination
- to request for drastic changes within certain function
- to give general recommendations

If the lab releases pretty much fully stable beta this usually means they are not open to any major requests, meaning what you see is what you'll get in the end.
Devs often don't want to mess with stable code and add new features that can possibly ruin everything.
In avast! 6 case, we have plenty of "power" left for new features and requests. That's what it makes the thing different than other "late" betas from other developers. Been there, seen that and done that. The way avast! is doing it is the best imo.

 

Meh, I'm not going to argue anymore about this anymore. Betas are betas. Nobody said it should be bug free, but if there are loads of issues, then perhaps it should still be an alpha.

 

It's a freckin EARLY BETA. Which part of it you don't understand?
Word EARLY means it has MORE bugs and problems than just BETA, because it's released EARLY. Jesus

 

I agree, it's a public BETA, and EARLY beta too. And as it's not crashing tons of PC's there's no need for it to be still in alpha.

 

I really think you guys are taking this to another level LOL
Just ease up, they will work all bugs out.

 

To be honest. I think that AVAST is testing A LOT internally before releasing it to the public.
Because they do after all have around 140 Million users to look after! Not everyone is Beta testing though, but still.