hi sybex,
Sorry you feel the way you do, at least for the moment anyway.
As you know, what used to be called bloatware was a program install that required a download of 100 Mb or more, or a large cd install, and took up 200-300 Mb when installed. Back when hard drives were only 1-2GB in size, this was a significant hit to free space, but now, what with 1-2 TB drives available, not so much.
I define bloatware now as a program having too many, and unnecessary, features. It is not defined in how much space it actually takes up on the hard drive as it was in the past. Unnecessary features would be functions or options the average user would never use; I do not see Avast! having such unnecessary features or options built into it. All the features built into the free version are necessary and needed.
The job of securing a system against malicious malware is very complex, and at times, very daunting. Every feature included in Avast! free is necessary and needed at one time or another (except for WebRep) to fend off the myriad ways malware will attempt to enter your system.
It is just that the paid versions have additional features for additional protection. As you say, some older systems cannot run the paid versions as well as the newer ones can.
As for providing an Avast! slim version, we already have that.
It is called Avast! Free, and it comes without the bells and whistles of the paid Pro and Suite versions.
Please do not mistake the title under my user name for my actually representing Avast! as a corporate representative; or think I got that title due to the fact that the more posts I make the higher the title or that I have earned this title on that basis alone.
An Avast! Evangelist is that in name only; I am not an employee of Avast! now or have I ever been such. We do have Avast! employees drop in here from time to time, user Tech is one of them.
Some of the frustration you may feel may come from having clients that will not move to faster and more capable systems; know that Avast! still supports Windows 2000 SP4 Rollup 1. But support for Win 2000 will end sometime in the future, and the same will be true for XP. Until then, we need to find a solution users of older systems can be happy with, not to mention older OS's are more vulnerable as well.