Hi All !!!
I've updated with no apparent issue (I haven't run any program besides Firefox since the update, and I haven't played a video game since updating to version 8, so I have yet to determine if all is truly copacetic). Quick scan was VERY QUICK; I'll do a full scan later tonight, I expect. SO far, so good!
Rant//
(constructive criticisms in bold)
However, I'd like to add my irked voice to dimulec, jtk1015, Igbirt, and AngeliusMefyrxNext with regards to the 'piggybacked Google products'. I 'don't want to accidentally install anything' - I also 'do not want additional browsers or any software installed without my knowledge and approval.' (demi-quotes from dimulec and Igbirt posts) I suggest to Igbirt, AngeliusMefyrxNext and others to set your avast up to notify instead of auto-update, and then to manually update (either thru the update prompt or the UI) when able to notice the unexpected.
Luckily, I do not auto-update, ever. After several notifications, I finally decided to update at a time when I was able to be patient and to pay attention to what I was doing... and glad for that I am! I noticed the checkboxes on the finish page. I don't mind the checkboxes being there, but I'd MUCH PREFER that they were not checked by default! If they were not checked by default, they would not be inadvertently installed by me or others.
My estimation of avast would raise exponentially if it did the watchguarding for me in all cases, including this one. Apparently I have to watchguard a program that I bought to be my watchguard. Pft. I cannot fully express how disappointed I am by what seems to be sneaky cross-promoting behaviour (but I'll try). I find it insulting; especially on a paid product. If I had avast! free, I'd be ok with being advertised at. Perhaps make it so that the boxes are only pre-checked for those with avast! free? (no offense to the free users, but it must be paid for somehow, right?)
Of the various AV companies that I currently have exposure to, I like avast! best overall. However, it seems that various av companies take turns sneaky-cross-promoting (Grrr). I'd most like to see one company rise above the rest. I'd most like to see the awsomeness of avast! reclaim the sense of honour and marketing-integrity that attracted me to it in the first place (It still has the sense of community and technichal-integrity that I have always appreciated). Cross promoting may increase profit up to a point, but when the user-base has grown tired of sidestepping it for so long, the company that doesn't do it will have the product of choice.
I, and possibly others, would likely be willing to pay extra for the product that doesn't sneaky-cross-promote. As an example, I detest commercial interruptions on TV. I stopped watching TV over two decades ago (yes, I did miss out on pop-culture, but I clearly didn't really miss out on much). I either read books or used vhs/dvd instead. Now I also use Netflix + Amazon. I still go to the movies occasionally too. Point being: I am very content to pay extra for commercial-free viewing whenever possible, and I would be content to pay more for the reduction of cross-promoting/commercializing in any/all areas of my life, online and otherwise. I am sure that I am not alone in this. Life is too short to be distracted by unwanted messages/interruptions.
Anyhow... I wish you all a life long enough and healthy enough to do it all, and then some!
Thanks for a great av program for several years, and hopefully for countless years to come!
~ Nom
