Avast 4.8 Home Edition review
in Software
Verdict
It's free, and works acceptably, but it's an aesthetic nightmare.
Review Date: 11 Mar 2010
Reviewed By: Darien Graham-Smith
Price when reviewed: Free
Overall Rating
Features & Design
Value for Money
Ease of Use
Avast creates a dreadful first impression. Its drab grey interface, modelled illogically after a car stereo, looks tacky and offers only cryptic icons for user controls.
It didn't stand out in terms of effectiveness in our tests, either. That's not to say its 95% score in our malware test isn't respectable; it's a whisker ahead of our recommended free package, AVG Free 9.0. But it's not good enough to excuse that awful interface.
As usual for a free package, there's no firewall, so Avast gives no additional protection against our network attacks. On the upside, when we tested it against a series of suspicious websites it did intercept every page that actively tried to download malware, and blocked a few other sites via a blacklist.
Avast also gave us a good range of options for infected email attachments, allowing us to receive the message, delete the attachment or move it to a safe quarantine. Again, though, it's not exactly pretty, bringing up a garish blue and yellow alert bar right along the bottom of the screen.
One distinctive feature is the Virus Recovery Database, which stores changes to your files so they can be restored to their original form in the event of a virus attack. It's a nice idea, but Windows' built-in System Restore and Previous Versions features provide almost as much reassurance.
Avast is a fairly nimble system, with a quicker than average boot time and an inoffensive memory footprint. And since the Home Edition is free, it seems churlish to complain about its ugly, awkward design and mediocre results. The fact remains, though, that there are slicker options than this, and more effective ones.
Author: Darien Graham-Smith
From around the web
Version 4.8?
Why would you review version 4.8 of Avast when version 5 is now available? It has a pretty much completely re-designed interface as well. I can't see the point in reviewing an outdated version of a program like this. :-|
By Trippynet on 11 Mar 2010 
Out of date review - Version 5 is out
A fair review but a bit out of balance and out of date - Avast 5 has been out for a month or two now - think someone at PC 'Pro' missed this!!
While I agree that the 4.8 interface is a nightmare, there are many skins, and each can be added pretty easily - this was not mentioned.
As a user I too found Avast 4.8 a lot lighter on resources than AVG 9 free. It also offers offers flexibility over AVG to tailor security levels to your individual needs - Web shield, P2P, Messenger apps, Mail Shield and more. Avast 5 is a huge improvement in the intreface design - as good as paid for AV programs, none of which are perfect!
As to firewalls there are some useful comparative tests by matousec.com that show that the paid for paid for "all in one" security suites aren't up to scratch so let's have a bit of balance please!
For the record I use Avast 5, Comodo Firewall.
By Rahere on 11 Mar 2010
Out of date review - Version 5 is out
A fair review but a bit out of balance and out of date - Avast 5 has been out for a month or two now - think someone at PC 'Pro' missed this!!
While I agree that the 4.8 interface is a nightmare, there are many skins, and each can be added pretty easily - this was not mentioned.
As a user I too found Avast 4.8 a lot lighter on resources than AVG 9 free. It also offers offers flexibility over AVG to tailor security levels to your individual needs - Web shield, P2P, Messenger apps, Mail Shield and more. Avast 5 is a huge improvement in the intreface design - as good as paid for AV programs, none of which are perfect!
As to firewalls there are some useful comparative tests by matousec.com that show that the paid for paid for "all in one" security suites aren't up to scratch so let's have a bit of balance please!
For the record I use Avast 5, Comodo Firewall.
By Rahere on 11 Mar 2010
Why bother with Skins?
I have used Avast 4.8 for about a year now; it is an excellent product. I use it in conjunction with ZoneAlarm's free firewall.
Like the reviewer I dislike the default Skin, but it is easy to change to a "Simple User Interface":
Uncheck the tick-box "Enable Skins for Simple User Interface" on the Settings - Common page.
With this configuration you get a standard looking pop-up Window. It has a typical Windows Title with Toolbars below and a detailed choice of scan options to select.
Give Version 4.8 a try it is really good.
For the record I have tried Version 5 which is OK, but I do not like the new presentation. Too gimicky for my taste. I will continue to use 4.8 which is simple to use and very effective.
By houndog on 11 Mar 2010
advertisement
- LinkedIn revenue doubles as membership soars
- Kodak kills off cameras
- UK broadband project spending £1m on legal fees
- Microsoft: Windows on ARM won't be sold separately
- Intel pays five hours of profits to settle antitrust case
- Windows 8 on ARM to run desktop apps... but only Office
- Ofcom dithers over plans to tackle broadband slamming
- Data boost bolsters Vodafone revenue
- Google working on cloud storage system
- Lenovo's profit leaps 54% on market gains
- Chrome's shine getting lost in translation
- BytePac: the cardboard hard disk enclosure
- How tech loosens our grip on reality
- Hokum watch: Safer Internet Day
- Why I'm deleting Adobe from my PC
- Prepare to be patronised: it's Safer Internet Day
- Dear Sony, Samsung and every other tech company in the world: stop trying to be Apple
- Will Apple's Final Cut Pro X update placate the pros?
- Smartr Contacts for iPhone review
- Switching to Office 365's Outlook Web App
- The ultimate guide to passwords
- How Apple lulls Mac owners into a false sense of security
- Privacy - outdated luxury or public necessity?
- Building the bionic man
- The making of open-source software
- Top 10 stupid security stories of 2011
- 10 techs to watch in 2012
- PC Pro's favourite tech products of 2011
- 10 most read articles on PC Pro in 2011
- 50 ways to make your PC better
- Why virtualisation hasn't slowed the growth of data
- How to make Google AdWords work for your business
- The curse of sloppily written software
- Paying for your crimes with Bitcoin
- Behind the scenes: tech support for Formula 1
- The security risk of fat fingers
- Why Windows Phone 7 isn't quite ready for business
- When will Microsoft stop fiddling with Windows 8?
- Flash down the pan?
- Metro Style apps vs desktop applications
advertisement
Printed from www.pcpro.co.uk