I completely agree with Noob and the other posters here. I have used and recommended Avast for years. Now I only suggest it with caution because I have grown to hate it and all the annoying popups.
We shouldn't have to dig through 10 different settings screens for buried/obscure options to turn all the annoying crap off (and then modify the installed feature to turn off others). We shouldn't have Dropbox or Chrome or any other 3rd party software automatically selected at install time. We shouldn't be having scare tactics and lies used against us in an attempt to get us to buy upgrades. This is what potentially unwanted software (adware/malware) does, and if Avasts developers continue on their current path, that is exactly what Avast will become - unwanted software.
Stop pushing away avid users and evangelists of your product, keep it unobtrusive and effective and people will use it, recommend it, and even buy it.
Next time I get frustrated with Avast I will be trialing some other AV options to see if they are any better (only reason I haven't done it yet is because I'm too lazy). I expect they will not be any different in most regards, but I will give some a try anyway as I am sick of Avast acting like the very malware I am trying to defend against.