Avast is one of the well-known names in free antivirus category since years. It has been repeatedly ranked amongst Top 3 free antivirus products and now to add to its glory, Alwil has slipped out its stylized revamped avatar, Avast 5.0.
I have been really happy with Avast and am using it since my college days. Mainly because it is free, less annoying, can be updated offline with installable virus definitions and shows no pity to the bad guys. So obviously when a new version comes out, I am urged to speak a few words about it.
New Interface:
Avast 5.0 Beta has a lot of visible changes compared to previous versions. The new interface is awesomely intuitive, everything’s handy and has a great work-flow. Unlike version 4.7, if you remember, the main interface is large, has most of the crucial options visible at all times. However, it gives a faint impression of Kaspersky’s interface but that’s not a big deal when under-the-hood functionality is way different and simple too.
Ergonomics:
As you can see in the above screenshots, the interface is ergonomically designed keeping ease of use as the top priority. Large buttons with collapsible menus make is easier to perform tasks. During the scan it also provides additional real-time information about the current activity. Even the virus definitions update and the program modules update has been differentiated well. In earlier versions, I have seen people getting confused amongst them because of lack of proper differentiation.
Additional enhancements:
When a program does a makeover, at least I look for some additional features beside optimization of the regular ones. Alwil added new and useful functionality like the Silent/Gaming Mode and the Real-time graphical representation of Shields.
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Silent/Gaming Mode, once activated, stops popping of messages and notifications. This comes as a life-saver when playing games or watching movies.
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The Real-time shields option, reminiscent of Kaspersky, gives real time graphical representation of the scanning activities performed by its shields.
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Apart from this, the speed and the efficiency of Avast 5.0 Beta indicates better heuristics and many other under-the-hood changes. Not only for the local files, but Web activity is thoroughly and efficiently monitored real-time.
TechExplorer verdict:
The features offered by the new Avast 5.0 are really too good to be true for the $0 price tag. One can take the liberty to compare Avast with most paid antivirus programs out there. Considering it still in the Beta and the features offered, Avast 5.0 Beta deserves a generous 4.2/5
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