On February 7, Czech developer Avast Software updated its line of anti-virus products for 2018: Avast Free Antivirus, Avast Pro Antivirus, Avast Internet Security, Avast Premier. And this is the first update of popular antiviruses after the purchase of AVG in September of the past year. All heroes of the review received an improved engine, a completely redesigned interface, two additional modes of operation and a “Screen of Conduct”, as well as a number of optimizations and corrections. Read the details in the most informative article below, but first briefly about the possibilities presented by spetsutilit.
Avast Free Antivirus. As the name suggests, the only free antivirus line with all the necessary functions for reliable protection of your computer and home network (“Antivirus”, “Emergency Disk”, “Check Wi-Fi”, “Software Updater”, “Passwords”, “Game Mode”, passive mode, web screen). In a single user interface for all products, some protection components inaccessible for the free version are marked with a lock icon.
Avast Pro Antivirus (from 750 rubles per year). The home network security scanner, DNS interception protection, virtual sandbox and SafeZone browser are added to the basic functionality of the free version.
Avast Internet Security (from 900 rubles per year). A full set of options for safe surfing, shopping and banking on the Internet (the firewall and antispam components are open).
Avast Premier (from 1250 rubles per year). In fact, this is Avast Internet Security with integrated “Data Shredder” and “Software Updater” modes.
So, let’s move on to the main thing – a review of new features and improvements in Avast 2017 antivirus software. Screenshots will be on behalf of its free version, with accompanying lock icons on the program?s private functions. By the way, such tools as “SecureLine VPN” (see the “Privacy” navigation menu) and “Cleanup Premium” (see “Performance”) are only available at first glance in Free Antivirus – when you try to connect to a VPN server (English Private Network – “virtual private network”) or to clean the system you will be asked to pay. Despite these minor troubles, this product of engineers from Prague will give odds to many paid antivirus solutions in terms of multi-functionality.
New user interface
The interface has become strikingly different from the versions of previous years: the gray-white-orange colors changed to dark gray with purple and green backlighting of graphic elements. Avast has pleasantly added ergonomics due to simpler organization of the menu with clear names of subsections. To configure the antivirus is no longer required prior online registration. When launched, the Windows state tab opens by default, from which you can go to the applets “Protection”, “Privacy” and “Speed”.
The most interesting novelty is hidden from the eyes of users! If you install another antivirus in the system with Avast, it will automatically go into passive mode. At the same time, real-time protection and other active services will be disabled to avoid software conflicts. Thanks to the mode, you can run, for example, a password manager, even with a running duplicate program.
If you sat down “kill time” for “World of Tanks” or “DotA”, the integrated Game Mode is activated at the same time. In it, Avast disables any alerts, background processes, and Windows updates in order to free up system resources to improve game performance.
The newly presented screen is based on the AVG behavioral analysis system and monitors the suspicious activity of the running software. Thus, the antivirus automatically protects against hidden threats such as backdoors, trojans, keyloggers and other malicious (spyware) software.
The list of other optimizations in Avast
- the CyberCapture intelligent scanning technology, first introduced in June 16th, has been improved; isolation time in the cloud and identification of unknown files has been reduced to 5 minutes or less;
- home network security, which scans networks and helps troubleshoot problems with step-by-step instructions, renamed to Wi-Fi Test and optimized;
- the free password manager (see “Privacy”) has become faster in work and has improved browser integration;
Fixed several bugs, incl. Inoperability of the antivirus after the update in Windows Vista, the behavior of the Screen conflict and Comodo Firewall, the problem with installing the extension in Firefox 64-bit, the Spanish and Croatian language localizations returned when installing
Summing up, Avast products of the sample of 2017 are now completely “tough” not only for advanced but also for less experienced computer users. Numerous awards from independent laboratories speak of their high efficiency in detecting and neutralizing any “malware.” For example, in the testing of the German Institute AV-TEST Avast Free Antivirus was named the best free special feature for both Windows 10 and Windows 7 (details here and here). Quoting CEO Vince Steckler, “Our successful experience in the development of machine learning technology and artificial intelligence allows us to identify and eliminate threats on an unprecedented scale to protect more than 400 million customers worldwide.”