When will we see the "NEW" Mac revision release?

[Blueshoes]

When will we see the new Mac revision release?  I can't stand the window popping up on boot-up. 

 Will this program find most Unix trojans too? How about rootkits??

[.: Mac :.]

We will get the new release once the developers think its ready.

Will this program find most Unix trojans too? How about rootkits??

Avast for Mac uses the same database as the windows and Linux/Unix versions. So it should detect any malware the Unix version does

[djsconsultinggroup]

I agree, a new release with major BUG fixes is needed. We recently downloaded the most current version of this software to evaluate on our test system and have had nothing but issues with this release. It reminded my consulting team of a Microsoft alpha release, very crude and bug filled. My company regularly advises the use of the Windows version of Avast to all of our clients on that platform, we were excited when the Mac version was released, sadly it falls way short of it's Windows counterpart. If you were to ask exactly which bugs we encountered, I would point back to the forum and say we had 90% of the issues listed. I understand from a numbers point of view, Mac users are not your bread and butter, but from a quality standpoint, releasing any software with this many issues is an insult to the intended users.

If my words seem harsh, they might be, that is what my company gets paid for, to test and find the best solutions for our clients. Sadly this release for the Mac is so far short of any quality standard we have that it is not an option for us to even mention to any of our clients which is sad really since we push the Windows version exclusively for that platform. I do look forward to revisiting this software in the future, once it is given the attention it deserves and fixed, but for now we will be advising our Mac clients to look to other solutions if they feel a need to use a virus protection solution on thier Macs.

Regards,
David J Stuefen
CEO/Consultant
DJS Consulting Group

[zilog]

I agree, a new release with major BUG fixes is needed. We recently downloaded the most current version of this software to evaluate on our test system and have had nothing but issues with this release. It reminded my consulting team of a Microsoft alpha release, very crude and bug filled. My company regularly advises the use of the Windows version of Avast to all of our clients on that platform, we were excited when the Mac version was released, sadly it falls way short of it's Windows counterpart. If you were to ask exactly which bugs we encountered, I would point back to the forum and say we had 90% of the issues listed. I understand from a numbers point of view, Mac users are not your bread and butter, but from a quality standpoint, releasing any software with this many issues is an insult to the intended users.

If my words seem harsh, they might be, that is what my company gets paid for, to test and find the best solutions for our clients. Sadly this release for the Mac is so far short of any quality standard we have that it is not an option for us to even mention to any of our clients which is sad really since we push the Windows version exclusively for that platform. I do look forward to revisiting this software in the future, once it is given the attention it deserves and fixed, but for now we will be advising our Mac clients to look to other solutions if they feel a need to use a virus protection solution on thier Macs.

Regards,
David J Stuefen
CEO/Consultant
DJS Consulting Group

Hallo,
issues is what should be expected for any cross-platform ported apps, and especially for such low-level based as an antivirus is. We did our best to scan with the same quality (~ most accurate malware detections) as for the Windows version. But, the resulting user-interface comfort is heavily dependent on the feedback from users, and that's where we got only few reports and proposals during the beta-testing stage. Thus, from this side, the application will get better in very next versions.

Regards,
PC

[smkolins]

I'm also testing it out for recommendation and my installation is blind to Word Macros viruses. As a sysadmin I keep a small stash of a few kinds of viruses and tested Avast! for Mac Edition and I can't detect any Word Macros. I know they don't do much more than replicate but Macs can pass them on to Windows folks which is our primary problem so far.

I was attracted to Avast! because of it's reputation but without macro detection it's a non-starter. I can't think of any setting I could have changed that would turn that off.

BTW these same files are identified by competitor programs. It's not like they are clean. I can load them up to virustotal.com and get a long list of names for them.

[zilog]

I'm also testing it out for recommendation and my installation is blind to Word Macros viruses. As a sysadmin I keep a small stash of a few kinds of viruses and tested Avast! for Mac Edition and I can't detect any Word Macros. I know they don't do much more than replicate but Macs can pass them on to Windows folks which is our primary problem so far.

I was attracted to Avast! because of it's reputation but without macro detection it's a non-starter. I can't think of any setting I could have changed that would turn that off.

BTW these same files are identified by competitor programs. It's not like they are clean. I can load them up to virustotal.com and get a long list of names for them.

Hallo,
have you tried the windows version of avast for the same set of alleged macro-viruses? The macro-engine is semantically the same as in the windows version, so the results should be 100% identical. If they are caught by windows version but not by mac version, please send them to cimbal@avast.com. if they aren't caught by the windows version too, send them to virus@avast.com , thanks in advance.

Regards,
PC

[smkolins]

Hallo,
have you tried the windows version of avast for the same set of alleged macro-viruses? The macro-engine is semantically the same as in the windows version, so the results should be 100% identical. If they are caught by windows version but not by mac version, please send them to cimbal@avast.com. if they aren't caught by the windows version too, send them to virus@avast.com , thanks in advance.

Regards,
PC

Honestly I hadn't tried - but on checking with virustotal.com I'm surprised to see avast (presumably on windows) missed it...

http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/b7aa9653682ea01feba4b347e48ddefb

Even though virustotal.com is supposed to share results with these AV softwares I'll go ahead and send them to avast too. Guess I'll test everything I have and see what avast misses.

Still, it's disappointing.... we've got thousands of these macro viruses every year taking up time to clean so they don't do harm to the windows folks who have minimum AV software (public education has too little money folks!)

[zilog]

Hallo,
have you tried the windows version of avast for the same set of alleged macro-viruses? The macro-engine is semantically the same as in the windows version, so the results should be 100% identical. If they are caught by windows version but not by mac version, please send them to cimbal@avast.com. if they aren't caught by the windows version too, send them to virus@avast.com , thanks in advance.

Regards,
PC

Honestly I hadn't tried - but on checking with virustotal.com I'm surprised to see avast (presumably on windows) missed it...

http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/b7aa9653682ea01feba4b347e48ddefb

Even though virustotal.com is supposed to share results with these AV softwares I'll go ahead and send them to avast too. Guess I'll test everything I have and see what avast misses.

Still, it's disappointing.... we've got thousands of these macro viruses every year taking up time to clean so they don't do harm to the windows folks who have minimum AV software (public education has too little money folks!)

Hallo,
please, send those samples to us, and we'll check where's the problem... thanks in advance,
PC

[smkolins]

Hallo,
please, send those samples to us, and we'll check where's the problem... thanks in advance,
PC

Hrs ago.... hope you have them.

'Course it would be bad if they were caught along the way....

[zilog]

Hallo,
please, send those samples to us, and we'll check where's the problem... thanks in advance,
PC

Hrs ago.... hope you have them.

'Course it would be bad if they were caught along the way....

Hmm, probably, they really were ... have you sent them as an password (use 'virus') protected archive?

regards,
pc

[smkolins]

Hmm, probably, they really were ... have you sent them as an password (use 'virus') protected archive?

regards,
pc

Nooooo....<sigh>...ok....