avast! 8 released, adds software updater, browser cleanup tool

[Jack]

​

AVAST Software has announced the public availability of avast! 8, which now comes in four main flavours: avast! Free Antivirus, avast! Pro Antivirus (from $39), avast! Internet Security (from $49) and avast! Premier (from $69) all have a new touch-optimised, Windows 8-style interface. And they also include Software Updater, a tool which automatically checks for updates of the most commonly-exploited apps (Adobe Reader, Adobe AIR, Flash, Java, browsers and so on), as well as a simple Browser Cleanup app to help you review your browser addons, and remove or disable any you don’t want.

Improvements behind the scenes see avast! 8 better able to detect and block not just one the one particular sample you’ve encountered, but also many similar files, and even entire malware families.

AVAST’s Ondrej Vlcek claims this new technology “helps create much more efficient definitions, which can often protect against vast sets of malware, including unknown ‘zero-day’ malware, without the risk of generating false positives.”

Avast! 8 also introduces a new detection engine which monitors suspect files in an isolated environment before you’re able to execute them, is better able to monitor what they’re doing, and, avast! says, will “help users make more intelligent decisions, whether files running in the sandbox are malicious or not”.

And also new this time is the avast! Premium suite, which has all the regular avast! Internet Security features (antivirus, browsing protection, firewall, antispam) and adds additional tools of its own. So your money gets you extras like the automatic installation of any Software Updater upgrades; AccessAnywhere (remotely control your PC from across the internet); an ad blocker, and a Data Shredder to securely wipe confidential files.

Read more: http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/334988,avast-8-released-adds-software-updater-browser-cleanup-tool.aspx

Avast 8 download links:

Avast! Free Antivirus 8: files.avast.com/iavs5x/avast_free_antivirus_setup.exe
Avast! Antivirus Pro 8: files.avast.com/iavs5x/avast_pro_antivirus_setup.exe
Avast! Internet Security 8: files.avast.com/iavs5x/avast_internet_security_setup.exe
Avast! Antivirus Premier 8: files.avast.com/iavs5x/avast_premier_antivirus_setup.exe

 

[Deleted member 178]

Just installed, seems my issue with Safezone disappeared for the moment.

 

[McLovin]

I'm not going to saying anything at the moment about it, but time will tell.

 

[mercurial]

i like the new interface looks clean.

 

[3link9]

I'll give it a shot.

 

[Deleted member 178]

i had 3 bugs/issues:

1- the same safezone issue (seems it doesn't like my system) ^^
2- the Behavior Blocker hanged on a file then froze the whole avast, forcing me to reboot.
3- the BB hanged on EAM installation forcing me to kill the installer process of EAM. After stopping the BB, EAM can be installed normally.

not to say i removed Avast, will try it when the new Firewall will be integrated.

 

[mercurial]

i had 3 bugs/issues:

1- the same safezone issue (seems it doesn't like my system) ^^
2- the Behavior Blocker hanged on a file then froze the whole avast, forcing me to reboot.
3- the BB hanged on EAM installation forcing me to kill the installer process of EAM. After stopping the BB, EAM can be installed normally.

not to say i removed Avast, will try it when the new Firewall will be integrated.

Firewall is gonna be integrated in the free AV?

 

[Deleted member 178]

no, in the Internet Security

 

[gone]

Does they removed Auto sandbox from free version?

 

[Plexx]

avast! 8 release and there's already problems reported. Talk about a rushed release.

avast and thunderbird issues.
avast! script shield issues on windows 8.
avast! mail shield SSL scanning to be turned off on certain providers.
longer boot time.
avast ad blocker issues
I/O issues

Dejavu all over again...

Sticking to the early v7 build on one of the laptops.

 

[PurpleArmor]

avast has come a long way since its media-player days.

 

[Amiga500]

Only problem with avast is finding a good firewall to run with it.Its a PITA as the choice is very limited.

 

[avastalicious]

I have tested version 8 for a couple of days. It was very pleasing to use, I like the new interface.

Found a bug though, all videos on youtube played in NPAPI Flash show only a green screen. Audio is running, video does not.
I have to disable hardware acceleration and the problem is fixed. Uninstalling avast also fixes the problem.

Seems to be an issue with certain AMD Radeon cards but it's funny that there was no such problem in avast! 8 RC2. It started in RTM (lol).

 

[bob974]

i had 3 bugs/issues:

1- the same safezone issue (seems it doesn't like my system) ^^
2- the Behavior Blocker hanged on a file then froze the whole avast, forcing me to reboot.
3- the BB hanged on EAM installation forcing me to kill the installer process of EAM. After stopping the BB, EAM can be installed normally.

not to say i removed Avast, will try it when the new Firewall will be integrated.

Mon PC tourne avec avast 8 et EAM et je n'ai aucun conflit entre les deux. Je n'ai aucun bug à signaler...

My computer turns wtith EAM and Avast 8. No conflict between them... No bug for me...

 

[Littlebits]

avast! 8 release and there's already problems reported. Talk about a rushed release.

avast and thunderbird issues.
avast! script shield issues on windows 8.
avast! mail shield SSL scanning to be turned off on certain providers.
longer boot time.
avast ad blocker issues
I/O issues

Dejavu all over again...

Sticking to the early v7 build on one of the laptops.

I have only been using it for one day now and so far the only issue that I experienced is Google Update Service was flagged by the Auto Sandbox.

I don't use an email client, only web base email. I didn't know home users still used email clients since most web email can import pop accounts and it is much more secure.

I haven't tried it on my Windows 8 laptop, but I have tried several others and all of them had some kind of issues especial with the Metro titles and apps. So I decided to just use Windows Defender + UAC+ Windows Firewall which seems to work the best. I don't think any AV's are completely compatible with Windows 8 especially the touch screen features. It will probably be awhile before all of the bugs are worked out to make third-party AV's completely compatible.

I/O issues only apply if you leave Avast GUI minimized, it makes me wonder why anyone would need to do that in the first place since you can easily open and close it as needed.

Avast ad blocker is not installed by default, you have to manually install it from the settings. With all of the browser add-ons available, it is a feature that I will never use.

My boot time was actually faster with v8 then what it was with v.7 on my Windows 7 x64.

I really like the software updater, this is a feature that is very helpful to most users who don't keep their software updated and get hit by exploits. It very quickly updated by Flash player by just one click.

I haven't got to try all of the features so it is possible there could be bugs that I don't know about.

Enjoy!!

 

[3link9]

Alright so been using Avast Premier for a day now.
Issues I found/still experiencing.

1. Noticed Bootime is slower than v7
2. Youtube green screen problem (Always has been a problem with avast since late v5)
3. CPU eater when updating (havent tried scans yet)
4. Sandbox crashed twice
5. BB seemed to have improved but it froze my system on a couple of files, Otherwise it reported as normal and system was fine.
6. Still experiencing Web Browsing slowdowns (which was a problem for me since v6)

So, going to keep running it for awhile and see how it does.

 

[rebel4life]

i got avast AV 8 + mamutu BB + Online Armor (30day trial) and no issues its a 3 way lovefest here lmao

 

[Jack]

Below there are a few screenshots for those who didn't manage to get a look at Avast 8 yet.

Avast 8 Antivirus Free - User Interface and tabs

[attachment=3818][attachment=3819][attachment=3820][attachment=3821][attachment=3822][attachment=3823]

Avast 8 Antivirus Free - Settings menu

[attachment=3824][attachment=3825][attachment=3826][attachment=3827][attachment=3828][attachment=3829][attachment=3830][attachment=3831][attachment=3832]

Avast 8 Antivirus Free - Detection screens
[attachment=3833][attachment=3834][attachment=3835]

The File Reputation system seems to work very well, and finally it works as it should. No doubt this will be a strong layer of protection against malware:

 

[Plexx]

I have only been using it for one day now and so far the only issue that I experienced is Google Update Service was flagged by the Auto Sandbox.

My boot time was actually faster with v8 then what it was with v.7 on my Windows 7 x64.

Unfortunately on Win 7 users have already reported slow boot and BSODs (1 and 2 for example).

I still believe it was a rushed release.

For the users who have no problem with v8, good. For the ones that have issues, just feel bad for them.

 

[Littlebits]

I have only been using it for one day now and so far the only issue that I experienced is Google Update Service was flagged by the Auto Sandbox.

My boot time was actually faster with v8 then what it was with v.7 on my Windows 7 x64.

Unfortunately on Win 7 users have already reported slow boot and BSODs (1 and 2 for example).

I still believe it was a rushed release.

For the users who have no problem with v8, good. For the ones that have issues, just feel bad for them.

Some users might have reported issues but you can not say for sure this is caused by bugs because the users did not provide any details. There is no telling what other security products these users were using or if they completely uninstall their previous AV correctly.

If have updated three systems with Avast 8 and still haven't experience BSOD. If this was a major problem that applied to most users I'm sure there would be a lot more reports about it in their forums. I only see a few reports and none give any helpful details even when asked by the mods. This kind of looks suspicious if you ask me since none of the regular long time members of their forums are experiencing any of these bugs. I kind of wonder if some of these reports are fake. Since Avast currently has the largest third-party AV market share some users, competitor vendors and fanboys might try it make the latest release look much worse then what it really is. I'm sure some problems exists in the latest release as with any newly released software. But if you look over the reports closely in Avast forum it is obvious that something isn't right with some of them.

Thanks.