Malekal is known for his rigorous testing methods and relentless criticism of poorly-performing products. Winning the 2010 test is even more precious considering that in the past, his attitude against avast was very reserved, and his tests were dominated by other products. But all this seems to have changed with the new avast version 5.

Malekal especially appreciated the way we bulked up the web protection module. The improvements in the avast Web and Network Shields, combined with its enhanced javascript detection engine, secured avast a smooth victory in the real-world test of protection against web-based threats. With over 85% of all infections coming through the Web these days, such improvements really make a difference for all our users.

The tester also liked the avast cleaning capabilities, mainly thanks to our unique boot-time scanning technology.

The final standing are as follows:

Gold medal: avast

Silver medal: Avira, Microsoft Security Essentials

Bronze medal: AVG, Panda cloud

Link to full review (in French): http://forum.malekal.com/comparatif-antivirus-gratuits-2010-t23535.html

Link to original article: http://blog.avast.com/2010/03/03/malekal-2010-test/

Asa cum am zis intr-un articol, Avast! “Home Edition” este cel mai bun antivirus gratuit, acum odata Avast 5, Avast a redenumite versiunea “Home Edition”, un titlu care nu striga lumii ca este gratuit (unii potentiali clienti erau indepartati din necunostinta), cu titlul de Avast Free Antivirus, cuvantul “FREE” este cunoscut de majoritatea consumatorilor care au avut experienta sa navigheze pe internet si sa caute programe, indeferent de limba pe care o cunosc.

Pe langa protectia pe care ultima versiune (Avast Home Edition 4.8) o avea, in Avast Free Antivirus 5 veti gasi un imbunatatit motor (engine) de antivirus si spyware pentru protectie in timp real, un emulator de cod care este folosit de izoleze programele cu virusi intr-un mediu isolat, un motor Heuritic, care detecteaza proactiv programele malitioase care deobicei nu sunt detectate de definitiile normale, motorul Heuristic acopera atat fisierele binare (executabile) cat si scipturile malitioase. In plus acum avast include si Inteligent Scanner, care reduce numarul de fisiere scanate (fisierele identificate ca sunt “sanatoase” nu vor mai fi scanate doar daca re schimba) si implicit timpul de scanare cu 80%, si un scut de comportament care foloseste un numar de senzori si reporteaza sau blockeaza comportamentul suspicios.

Mai mult pe blogul lui Allex Radu.

Three products (Free Antivirus, Pro Antivirus, and Internet Security) and a new website are being released today. Even though we have expanded our product portfolio, our philosophy of having and promoting a top-notch free antivirus is paramount. This philosophy has enabled us to achieve 100 million users and we are continuing it. As you read through our new website and launch information, you will see that not only is the new free product easier to use and more visually appealing than the old product, it provides even more security protection. And it is still free and free from annoying pop-ups and requests for money.

These products are not minor updates from the existing products. They are all new. Some of the changes—such as the new user interface—are obvious. Some are not obvious at all (such as the new scanning engine). All-in-all we think they are a vast improvement from the current products—modern, light, fast, and very effective. For details, see the product detail pages on the new website.

1. Avast! Free Antivirus. This is our new flagship product and replaces Avast Home Edition (we changed the name to emphasize the product is free). We focus this product on users that use the internet for web browsing and email. If that is what you do on the internet, this is the product you need. We are very proud of this product and we stack it up against anyone else’s paid antivirus—in fact, we have recently started submitting this product in lieu of our paid products to all of the industry standard tests. Virus Bulletin, one of the most respected journals, recently called this product “….nothing short of a miracle” (see separate blog post). Google selected this product for incorporation in many of their Google Packs.
2. Avast! Internet Security. This is our brand-new product and is focused on users that do on-line banking or shopping or that have sensitive data on their computer. We believe that these users need some extra layers of protection and developed this product to provide three more layers. This product takes the free antivirus and adds a 2-way silent firewall, a sandbox, and anti-spam. The firewall ensures that only trusted applications are able to receive or send data across the internet. The sandbox provides a means of executing your browser (or any other application) in a protected environment—thus even if you get infected, the infection does not leave the sandbox and does not harm your computer. And the anti-spam helps you get rid of all that irritating email you receive every day. And, we have made this product attractive to consumer users—a single license can be used on 3 computers in your household.
3. Avast! Pro Antivirus. This is the update to the old Professional Edition. We focus this product on individuals that want to customize their security and on businesses. It is the same as Internet Security but without the firewall or anti-spam. This allows world-class security using your own personal choice of firewall and anti-spam.

To support these products, there is also a brand new website. Today the website will only be available in English and French. But, as the other languages roll out, the language-specific websites will also.

If you are using a 4.8 product (home or professional editions), the update is pretty painless.  Sometime in the near future, the 4.8 product will tell you version 5.0 is available.  You will have the choice of a free upgrade or a special existing-user offer for the new Internet Security. All you have to do is click which option you want, and you will be upgraded. As we have about 100 million users, these messages will take a month or two to get to all users. If you don’t want to wait for this automated message, you can manually upgrade and get the same special offers by clicking on the homepage banner that asks if you are already a 4.8 user.

As you can imagine, it was a massive effort to release three new products and a new website at the same time. All of our teams have done a great job in making this happen. Development of course developed the new products. But many other teams were also involved—virus lab and research, localization and translation, website development, on-line store, and marketing.

If you are reading this at launch time, we will think of you as we celebrate with the Czech national drink……

From: http://blog.avast.com/2010/01/19/avast-version-5-0-is-here/

New range of free and premium antivirus products launched in version 5.0

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, January 19, 2010 – ALWIL Software, makers of the world’s most popular free antivirus program with over 100 million users, has launched new versions of its popular free and premium software.

The new 5.0 furthers the company’s objective of offering full-fledged antivirus and anti-malware protection that is modern, sophisticated – and free. Together with the free version, avast! is also introducing the new premium Internet Security suite and an update of its paid Antivirus Pro product.

“With avast! 5.0, we are defining a new direction in antivirus,” explains Vince Steckler, CEO of ALWIL Software. “Our free and paid versions are identical in terms of the level of malware protection. The Free version is designed for ordinary internet use while avast! Internet Security 5.0, our new top product, is best for internet users doing security sensitive activities such as on-line shopping and banking.” The new Internet Security includes an automatic Silent Firewall and anti-spam service with ongoing updates to help users deal with unwanted email.

The new avast! Pro Antivirus 5.0 uses the same core detection engine with more customization options. “It offers a few extra functions aimed at more advanced users, small businesses or technical experts who want to integrate avast! into an existing, best of breed, security solution,” says Mr. Steckler. “These advanced features include real-time script inspection, a command line scanner and the new sandboxing technology for safely examining suspicious file activity.

The new avast! 5.0 products are already getting kudos and “seals of approval”:

1. AV Comparatives gave the beta avast! Free Antivirus 5.0 its “advanced” rating in its Whole Product Dynamic Test (December 2009). [http://www.av-comparatives.org]
2. VB Magazine, one of the industry’s leading security magazines, calls the new avast! Free “nothing short of a miracle”. [http://www.virusbtn.com/files/Avast-Jan2010.pdf]
3. Google is bundling the new 5.0 in select European versions of its Google Pack. [http://blog.avast.com/2010/01/14/free-avast-5-chosen-for-google-pack/]

“If you look at the results for the last version of avast! Free Antivirus at leading independent testing labs, we outperformed paid solutions in detection rates and performance,” comments Ondrej Vlcek, Chief Technology Officer at ALWIL Software. AV-Comparatives in November awarded avast! the highest “advanced+” rating for its ability to proactively detect viruses and malware without a fresh virus update.

avast! 5.0 sets a performance benchmark that paid antivirus will have a hard job to match. “The product outperforms a number of competitor products we’ve struggled with in our tests in recent years,” writes John Hawes, Technical Consultant & Test Team Director of VirusBulletin, the UK-based independent computer security testing agency, in its January 2010 issue. “That it manages to look pretty fabulous too is pure gravy. The new suite version has some fun and useful extras, and the free version being available to all without charge is nothing short of a miracle.”

Architectural improvements in the new products make the lives of users easier by optimizing performance to take advantage of multiple PC processor cores. Tests conducted on the Intel’s latest notebook platform based on Intel® Core™ i5 mobile processor demonstrate that the new avast! 5.0 is 40% faster than the previous versions[1].

“Intel delivers new processors with great performance headroom for today’s demanding customers. We are glad to have been able to aid avast! in optimizing its security solution to take full advantage of our latest technologies with the clear benefit for end users,” said Wolfgang Petersen, EMEA Director of Intel Software & Services Group.

The faster scanning speed does not require greater computer resources. To the contrary, the new 5.0 is lighter on system resources as shown by the reduced energy consumption. Each full scan requires 10.6 Wh less electric energy. With 100 million avast! users, this translates to a potential 50 GWh energy saving per year. So, there is something for the environment as well.

Free is where the action is, and it is profitable space for avast! as Steckler explains, “Our free version is for home non-commercial use. We believe that by showing these users the full potential of our software, they will continue to advocate our brand into the wider market.” Considering that two out of every three avast! users discovered the software through a friend’s recommendation, the focus on the free version is a proven market building strategy.  “If you look at the antivirus market, many vendors use trialware or stripped down versions of their software to lure new customers,” comments Steckler. “This model is flawed because users need complete security and not tease-ware or advertising-ware. Computer users demand full functionality for free and avast! Antivirus 5.0 gives them just that.”

Technical overview

avast! Free Antivirus 5.0

avast! Free Antivirus 5.0 replaces the old avast! Home Edition. It uses the same malware detection capability as both premium versions and is not a stripped down or impaired version. It is the best solution for all users who use the Internet for e-mailing, chatting or web browsing. Since its introduction in 2004, avast! Free Antivirus has become one of the world’s most popular applications. Its growing pool of over 100 million users consistently give the software high approval ratings.

avast! Internet Security 5.0

The new avast! Internet Security provides comprehensive security for on-line shopping and banking. It provides protection against threats from infected web sites and the growing risk of identity theft. As the premium avast! product, it contains an intelligent firewall and a comprehensive anti-spam/phishing module in addition to the antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-rootkit, scriptblocker and other real-time shields. avast! Internet Security can be licensed for 3, 5 or 10 computers starting at $59.95 for 1 year protection.

avast! Pro Antivirus 5.0

avast! Pro Antivirus replaces avast! Professional Edition and is primarily designed for small businesses and computer specialists who want the ability to customize their security protection alongside their own firewall and anti-spam filter. avast! Pro Antivirus includes sandbox virtualization and protection against both remotely and locally executed scripts. Licenses for avast! Pro Antivirus can be purchased for 1, 3, 5 and 10 PCs. A single year license for 1 PC is $39.95.

About ALWIL Software

ALWIL Software is the maker of avast! — the world’s most popular computer security program with over 100 million registered users. From its headquarters in the Czech Republic, ALWIL Software has developed the award-winning suite of avast! products and localized them into 33 languages. Further details about the company and its products can be found at http://www.avast.com.

avast! is a registered trademark in the United States of America and other

countries and is used under exclusive license to ALWIL Software

The main goal of this new version is to improve stability of the Behavior Shield and Firewall components. It would be great if it could be tested especially by those who have had problems with the previous betas (e.g. bsods etc).

Download links:
Free AV: http://files.avast.com/files/beta/5.0.373/setup_av_free.exe
Internet Security: http://files.avast.com/files/beta/5.0.373/setup_ais.exe

The safest method is to install this new version from scratch (uninstall the old one, reboot, and install this).
Alternatively, you should be able to go this new version by simply invoking the Program Update feature from within the avast UI.

avast! Free Antivirus is the number one choice in the “2010 Free Antivirus Buyers Guide” from NotebookReview.com.

“First and foremost, it provides the best protection,” wrote Charles Jefferies in his review of four free antivirus programs. “avast! was significantly more proactive than the other suites, detecting and blocking all four of our test virus files before the download actually started.”

He also gave high ratings to the extra features in avast!, singling out the file recovery database and light firewall.

Tested programs were given numerical ratings for their level of protection, ease of use, performance and extra features. The top selection had the highest total score in all four categories.

NotebookReview.com is a leading source for information and reviews on the newest laptop computers. It is part of the TechnologyGuide.com family of websites on selected technology products.

For the complete Notebook Review.com article, click here .