First beta download of Avast 5.0 free antivirus released [gallery]

The most noticeable change for most users will be the restyled interface - gone is the overstylized media player look. There are, of course, a number of other improvements and new features which I mentioned back in July.
Bear in mind that this is a full-on beta. The forum post lists numerous features that are not yet implemented including rootkit detection. Definitions are also not fully up to date and the behavior shield is not fully active either. On top of that, Windows 7's action center doesn't recognize Avast 5 as an antivirus program yet.
Casual users looking for protection should steer clear for now. Experienced users who understand the risks and want to see what Avast.next will look like? Go nuts. Download it from the post and try it out!
Otherwise, check the gallery after the break! The final product is due in October, and we'll keep you up to date on its progress.
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
iofthestorm said 6:37PM on 8-19-2009
Haha, the media player look was completely retarded, glad they went with a more standard UI this time around. Hopefully it becomes faster and more efficient too. Out of all the free antivirus products, and in fact overall, I prefer Avast.
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Bond said 7:41PM on 8-19-2009
Well, it certainly LOOKS nice. Curious to hear more about performance as it matures.
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James said 10:55PM on 8-19-2009
Have they got rid of the unnecessary "Virus database updated" etc sounds?
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Cory said 11:10PM on 8-19-2009
Is it that hard to go into the options once and disable sounds?
jabber said 1:38AM on 8-20-2009
I hope not because the sounds are music to my ears.
Richard said 4:55AM on 8-20-2009
Personally, I fail to see why they insist on wasting memory with a custom UI. The point of a virus checker is that it's light on system resources.
What is wrong with the default Windows widget set? It's not like you look at or use the UI day in day out.
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chris said 11:24AM on 8-20-2009
I didn't realize while its running in system tray it was using resources for the ui? lets think about that a bit, eh? Oh and I'll give up 10 extra mb of my 6gb of ram for a good looking UI. Were not in the 32kb memory age any more....
mart said 8:22AM on 8-24-2009
avast is maybe nicer but I still don't recommend it.
It's a good antivirus but maybe not good enough as most of people that use it think. In the free antivirus area, Antivir from Avira is a lot better (the best in what I know)
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arokiaraj30386 said 5:01AM on 9-13-2009
its very useful to scan the virus and protect the system
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Ramsheed said 2:32AM on 9-13-2009
The AV solutions I am waiting for. It looks nice with lot of many features.
Thanks to Avast team for a great free AV solutions
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JIG2311 said 12:56AM on 9-20-2009
FFDMIGUFDJMNGFDUGFNMG JDFUDFJEHNMREFIUWDJHNMFNFDFN BDFSN FSDFWDNHFFN DSN
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ajitshtt8 said 8:22AM on 9-20-2009
i think the update is not available now but i hope it would available by next month....
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ghsschayoth14016 said 10:43AM on 10-05-2009
good
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nayan26deshmukh said 1:33AM on 10-11-2009
it is amazing i whole heartedly thank you for it
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