14 DAY TRIAL // Avira has already launched a Windows 8 version of its anti-virus software but, due to a compatibility issue, plenty of users were stuck to the utterly popular Blue Screen of Death.
A dedicated version of the famous Avira Anti-Virus for Windows 8, however, would be released in a few weeks, the company has promised, claiming that it’s now working to fix all compatibility issues.
Travis Witteveen, chief operating officer at Avira, told The Register that Avira may actually lose market share because of these compatibility problems, so the company is actually struggling to release its anti-virus product as soon as possible.
“We are working very hard to get our products Windows 8-compatible as soon as possible,” Sorin Mustaca, product manager at Avira, also said.
Avira has already released some patches to fix the major issues that resulted in a BSOD, but Windows 8 users are now provided with a pop-up dialog informing that their anti-virus product is not yet fully compatible with this OS version.
The previous BSOD error actually occurred because the Windows 8 operating system and Windows Server 2012 have a completely new architecture, Mustaca said in a blog post.
“Their architecture forces the software which runs on them to make significant changes in the frameworks and the APIs (Application Programming Interface) used to write the software. Old frameworks (e.g.: Layered Service Providers, Transport Driver Interface, etc.) will no longer be supported on the long term,” he explained.
In the meantime, Avast anti-virus, one of the main Avira competitors, has already landed in the Windows Store and is currently available for free download for all those running a Windows 8 OS.
While it doesn’t run on Windows RT, avast for Windows 8 comes with all the features you’d expect to find in an anti-virus software, including virus and spyware detection, remote assistance, streaming and real-time database updates and a file reputation system.