I have just bought new laptop with Windows 8 pre-installed. Having been delighted with the free avast on my previous PC, I bought the Pro version for the new one. Shortly after installation, some of the Windows8 Apps (Skype, Store, photos etc) stopped working (they opened by hung on the "loading" screen. I wasn't sure if it was avast that had caused this but uninstalled it anyway and the apps came back to life. I sent a message to avast support via their website two weeks ago and have not even received an automated "thanks, we'll get round to it sometime" response. Until I hear something positive, I think I will just depend on Defender to ward of the evils of the internet.
If you alt-tab out from metro, I bet you will find that the app has been 'sandboxed' and is waiting for you to allow it to continue. very stupid concept to have ignored.
I lost all my email this way when avast sandboxed my email, loaded all the mail from the server, deleted it, then closed the sandbox without my interruption, thus losing all my email.
And I've had this with metro apps not loading, hanging, but when I alt-tab there they are in avast sandbox.
not to mention that the network shield kills the TuneIn radio app, and I've just realised now it's effing around with my web browser preventing me from getting to the router properly. I almost bought a new router thinking at first it was my ISP, then my hardware. It was bloody avast.
Uninstalling this rubbish until I find better alternatives. Avast on windows 8 is not only bad, it's destroying data. It's breaking more than itself.
I swore I would do this after my email, but now it's almost making me break things to fix them..... pathetic.