14 DAY TRIAL // At over a month since it hit the milestone of 100 million users globally, Avast! has released its latest lineup of security products, version 5.0. There are no less than three flavors to the new security solution: Free Antivirus 5.0, Pro Antivirus 5.0, and Internet Security 5.0, with the first one, as the moniker implies, available free of charge to customers. In fact, Avast! Free Antivirus is one of the most comprehensive security products offered completely for free, and the promise from the company building the solution is that version 5.0 takes its free offering to a whole new level.
“With the new Free Version 5.0, we attempted (and we think succeeded) to raise the bar on free security products. We decided that our new free product needed to be the best antivirus product in the world—not just the best free product. We think we have succeeded, or come darn close. Now you the users (and of course the reviewers) can let us know,” revealed Vince Steckler, chief executive officer of Alwil Software, the makers of Avast!.
Users of Avast! are undoubtedly already familiar with the Pro Antivirus edition of the solution, which also got upgraded to 5.0. Avast! Pro Antivirus 5.0 is available for purchase for $39.95, the price covering a license for one year and just a single computer. At the same time, the security company has introduced a new product, Avast! Internet Security 5.0 with a price tag of $59.95 for a 1-year license, but which provides protection to no less than there computers. All the editions of Avast! 5.0 are fully compatible with Windows 7.
“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,” Steckler added.
Customers will be able to download Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0 either as a standalone product, and update to version 4.8, or through the Google Pack package, since this is the free antivirus that the Mountain View-search giant has chosen for its bundle of free apps. Avast! Pro Antivirus is designed to be the update to the Professional Edition, and is essentially identical to Avast! Internet Security minus the firewall and anti-spam capabilities.
Avast! Internet Security 5.0 “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. 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,” Steckler noted.
Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0 is available for download here. Avast! Pro Antivirus 5.0 is available for download here. Avast! Internet Security 5.0 is available for download here.