Avast 5 (Build 5.0.70) Beta available

Download here.

Avast Beta Forum

Edit: Downloaded it. So far so good, only runs two services in task manager which is good like Avira (which has 3).

Edit 2: After running it all day, I've come to a conclusion. The beta is a mess. I ran a full scan today, and after it finished, the program was still using over 100mb. Now I went away from the computer for a couple hours, just came back and it is using over 200mb. Just sitting doing nothing but protecting.

But I do like the new interface, way nicer than the old one.

 

Finally the long awaited avast! 5 is available for testing. I hope this beta phase doesn't last too long.

 

As far as I can tell Avira only has two processes running (avguard, avgnt) unless the GUI is open, it's updating or scanning.

 

Concurred, quoted here from a blog.

"... 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.."

cheers ...

 

I think when Avast! 5 fully release/official release, I will have a look on it.
Threads such as Avast! 5 vs Avira AP 9 will arise.
Lastly, it the resources usage of Avast! 5 still higher than Avira Antivir Personal 9, I won't switch to Avast! 5 I think.

 

I like the UI update a lot, although the protection of Avast always was good, I always installed Avira on my family's computers because the default UI looked more "polished and professional" than the whole "media player" esque thing Avast had going on.

I would have had to field questions of whether the protection was good enough, had i went with Avast..."It looks like a toy, not something i would secure my computer with."

I know there's skins available but still...