A Look At The New Features In Avast 8
Avast is known for creating some of the best security tools in the
industry. The company has been producing robust, reliable and efficient
antivirus and security applications for the past several years, winning
many accolades and certifications from critics and computer security
experts. Avast! 8 is the latest incarnation of their
long running antivirus suite and we’ve got to say it does pack a serious
punch of features. The security juggernaut has debuted the program in
four flavors: Avast Free Antivirus 8 (the one reviewed here), Avast Pro
Antivirus 8, Avast Internet Security 8 and the top of the line Avast
Premier 8. Let’s see take a closer look at the new features added in
Avast 8.
Make sure you opt for custom installation process to ensure that you deselect installation for Google Drive in case you don’t want it. In addition, custom installation allows to select only the relevant components that you wish to install, including Real-time shields, Language and other features.
An All-new Interface
The eye-candy provided by the new antivirus suite is nothing short of
commendable, and it looks like folks behind the doors at Avast are
serious in supporting the new UI philosophy of Windows 8. Avast 8’s GUI
is fully touch-optimized, and the tile-like design of many elements sits
quite nicely with the Windows 8 Modern UI. Although it runs in desktop
mode, so it’s not really the full metro overhaul. Menus and buttons look
bold, intuitive to navigate and still remain friendly with the old ways
of mouse navigation. There’s a Home tab that shows a smiley face if
your computer appears to be safe from any threats and the program itself
is up-to-date. Then there are tabs for Security, Maintenance, Market,
Recommend and Support.
Software Updater
We’ve reviewed a bunch of software updaters that keep an eye on
latest updates of the installed applications. Avast now includes an
integrated one that may make other solutions unneeded. The software
updater scans your installed applications and notifies you if an update
for any of them is found. You can always run the manual scan any time by
clicking Rescan, or halt the process entirely using the Stop button.
The update status is represented by a percentage, which gives you an
idea of the current state applications that haven’t had their latest
updates installed. Wanna increase that percentage? Click the ‘Fix now’
button beside each result found and let Avast download the latest
version for you.
Another fascinating thing about software update is that it displays
popup notifications if a new update is released for an installed app,
with an ‘Install now’ button that you can click to get the new version.
Browser Cleanup
Remember the Avast Browser Cleanup
tool we reviewed just a few days ago? That’s exactly what this feature
does. In case you skipped our review, Browser Cleanup allows to get rid
of unwanted toolbars from Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox
and Google Chrome. It’s quite handy to instantly uninstall those pesky
Babylon, Conduit, Ask.com and other obnoxious toolbars that make their
way into your computer bundled with freeware apps. In addition, you can
disable browser extensions or add-ons that you temporarily don’t
require. Browser Cleanup works as a standalone program, requiring you to
download it first by clicking Download. It’s fairly simple to use and
doesn’t require any installation though.
Data Shredder & Access Anywhere (Premier Version Only)
Users who buy the Premier version will enjoy more features than the
software’s freeware and cheaper variants. This includes Data Shredder
and Access Anywhere. Data Shredder enables removing files and folders
for good, making them irrecoverable even when employing the most
advanced file recovery techniques. The feature gives three choices to
the users for removing the items: Random Overwrite (overwrite files
according to user-specified numbers), Department of Defense (an even
more efficient method), and the most secure one, the Gutmann method.
The second Premier-only weapon in Avast 8′s arsenal is
AccessAnywhere. This feature allows to remotely access your PC from
another computer that’s running any edition of the antivirus suite. You
can use the PC remotely, and transfer files to and from the connected
machines.
Other changes here and there include an improved Behavior Shield to
detect threats and viruses, better scanning engine, firewall, antispam,
and a few other bits to fight off malicious threats even more
efficiently. As far as pricing goes, Avast Pro costs $39.99 per year for
a single license, or $54.99 per year for three computers. Avast
Internet Security will set you back $10 or $15 more for single or three
computers, respectively. Lastly, Avast Premier comes with a hefty price
tag of $69.99 per year for one license and $89.99 per year for three.
You can also download the free version if its suffices for your
computer’s security needs, or try the 30-days trial before shelling out
your money for a paid version.
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