Avast 6 free beta

[WES]

Free AV: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=70435.0

Very low on system resources, damn good looking right now and a very stable beta release if I may add. Some important new features.

What's new
Main changes/improvements:
- AutoSandbox – suspicious programs will be optionally run sandboxed
- avast! WebRep – browser plugin for website reputation rating; a combination of data from our virus lab and community voting
- Script Shield now even in the Free AV
- Site Blocking now even in the Free AV
- SafeZone – a special virtualized area for sensitive transactions (e.g. secure online banking) (paid products only)
- Restore factory settings command (Settings -> Troubleshooting)
- Automatic actions in the boot-time scan
- New compression method in the installer makes the setup packages about 20% smaller.
- Script Shield now functional even with IE8/IE9 Protected Mode
- Sidebar gadget
- Improved stability/compatibility of the Behavior Shield
- Improvements in the avast! sandbox

[Watasha]

Unfortunately the reviews I have seen for this are less than encouraging, even for a beta.

[WES]

True, I am kind of disapointed myself. I hope it gets fixed soon.

[MidnightCowboy]

Wasn't V5 a bit like this too when it was first analyzed?
I'm sure they will iron out a lot of things soon and most of the others post beta.

[Anupam]

I will agree with MC here. Avast team is not known to leave things in a mess for long. I too am sure that they will make the final product a worthy one.

[Taurus]

Originally Posted by MidnightCowboy

Wasn't V5 a bit like this too when it was first analyzed?

Yes. The big question for me is how will the final get along with sandboxie?

[Watasha]

Originally Posted by MidnightCowboy

Wasn't V5 a bit like this too when it was first analyzed?
I'm sure they will iron out a lot of things soon and most of the others post beta.

I think you are right. There are a bunch of features here for a free AV solution, they may have just heaped a bit too much onto their own plate & are having to catch up with themselves.

[bo.elam]

Originally Posted by Taurus

Yes. The big question for me is how will the final get along with sandboxie?

There should not be any problem if you don't use them at the same time on
the same application. I hope it works out fine cause I think I am going to try
it when it comes out of Beta. The thing to keep in mind, in my opinion, is that
we should not compare it to Sandboxie or expect it to match Sandboxies
reliability right away. Sandboxie has been around for about seven years and
it will take Avast a long time to develop it into something as good as SBIE.

Bo

[bo.elam]

I found this short explanation of the Avast Sandbox. If this is the way it
will be in the free version, it can not be any better.
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?act...ch=58970;image

@Taurus, when running the browser, use either Avast virtualization or
Sandboxie and there wont be any problems. I don't know if its working
fine or not at this moment but reading the complains at the Avast forum,
tells me that IT is working fine and the problems are related to users
not learning how to use Sandboxing that uses Virtualization to achieve it .

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=70694.0

My feelings are that the Avast Sandbox is ready to go.

Bo

[Taurus]

Thank you Bo for you input on Avast 6 and it's sandboxing feature. Yes, use Sandboxie or the Avast 6 sandbox to virtualize your browser, but not both at the same time. That makes logical sense as the sandboxing features from each program may conflict with one another.

For now, I'm going to stay with sandboxie. Once Avast has the bugs worked out of version 6, I may give it a try.

But things are going so well with sandboxie and the occasional on demand scan, I'm pretty happy.

But, for a customer that wants to tackle the learning experience of how to use a sandbox, but still does not want to let go of an AV\AM. Avast seems to be a logical choice.

Thanks Again Bo