Not exactly a news flash....

[tryinhard]

I wonder, in light of the myriad of difficulties that 5.0 has kicked up, if Avast is hard at work on further refinements for the program, or is content to say "It's not the program, but user malfunctions that are to blame."  I weathered all the SP3 and IE8 intro's with no problems at all, but 5.0 sure pulled the rug out from under me, and a few thousand others, it appears.  4.8 just chugged along and still is, but nobody seems to want to look at core issues--some things were changed in 5.0 from 4.8 that apparently should not have been, and the results are not good.  I say that even with one computer that is running fine with 5.0, but that doesn't help the two that can't tolerate it.  With some of the multi-star guys hanging with 4.8, I wonder if they are reacting to all the fuss, or if they know something the rest of us don't.  Wait and see, I suppose, is the plan, providing Avast will not ignore the ongoing difficulties associated with the release and subsequent versions of "Orange Crush..."

[YoKenny]

I suffered through a bit of a problem on my XP Pro system but the support I received was excellent and the problem quicly resolved.

It helped that I provided information on my system specifications to the support people.

I doubt it was a few thousand others that had problems but a few that did not know how to effectively ask for help.

[Tarq57]

'Spose I'm a multi-star guy. I'm sticking with 4.8, for now. I see just too many threads of users having problems with 5.0.

A lot of these threads "fizzle out". Not all of these problems can be attributed to "user error" or similar. Some of the users reports have been comprehensive and apparently perceptive. (And some others have been verging on single digit IQ level, same as always.)

Since this is my only computer, used for everything, I'm in no rush. If I had a test box, I'd have been running 5 since the Beta releases. And (hopefully) learning what works (or not).
There have been a lot of users Beta test 5, a lot of them are very computer savvy, and even they don't seem to be able to solve some of the reported problems.

Most often, a problem reported with 4.8 could be resolved with forum help. Seems not to be the case yet, with 5.

[EntitY]

I have little doubt that Avast is slacking on fixing the bugs in version 5.  I'm running 5-free on a 3 year XP SP-3 laptop, because 5 runs better and lighter than the other free-competition, with the Web Shield disabled. I also take into consideration, if the company is ethical or not, which is just as important to me as a quality anti virus. I use to go nuts going back and forth with  Avast 4.8 and than switching to Avira free and back again. When Avast 5 came out, it handled that switching problem. I am a happy user of Avast 5, until another free anti virus can take it's place...

[norel]

I don't mind being told it's a user malfunction, if that's indeed what it is, as long as it's accompanied by a thoughtful explanation in plain English as to why it's a user malfunction and not avast! It's vague half-baked explanations I find frustrating. 

It seems to me that the major bugs that were effecting the most people have been ironed out, so I'm not sure what changes you're referring to that had bad results. For those with issues that haven't been resolved, just keep pounding on the Support door till you get satisfaction and if you can't well, you may have to look for other options as unfortunate and aggravating that may be.

[tryinhard]

I suffered through a bit of a problem on my XP Pro system but the support I received was excellent and the problem quicly resolved.

It helped that I provided information on my system specifications to the support people.

I doubt it was a few thousand others that had problems but a few that did not know how to effectively ask for help.

   You are one of the fortunate ones.  Perhaps "thousands" is a bit extreme, but time spent on this forum looking at results from the initial release up through the present clearly shows that 5.0 is riddled with inconsistencies or worse.  Providing system specs to you seemed to me to be needless when everything was ideal prior to 5.0, and a mess after.  No, I cannot explain why the one unit is handling the program and the others aren't, but your comparing identical configs wouldn't have led to an answer either.  I believe I included enough information in my posts to have produced results if anyone else had encountered the same problem, but such was not the case apparently.  Effectively asking for help is important, of course, as important as effectively digesting and comprehending what has been relayed to you as a help source.  I have no doubt you have been helpful in many cases, but if you insist that there are no issues with 5.0 in general, I believe you are missing something quite obvious to others.  Thanks for your help.

[marc-d-l]

Personally I think 5.0 is too complicated for the average PC user.Installing is not an easy task,especially if
every trace of the previous AV is not taken out.Then unless your a pro, getting it to work problem free takes a lot of trips to this forum,and a lot of determination.Unlike 4.8 where you downloaded and forgot about it.I recommended it to a lot of friends and most of them gave up on it.they all said (too complicated)
and went to other AV's)
Most  PC users want to turn the unit on and don't want to have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out
how an AV works,or have to spend hours on the net asking questions.
Make It Easy. Make It Simple. Make it so Joe Average can use it.

[EntitY]

Maybe for a noob, but I don't think 5.0 is that hard to setup for an average user, if all goes well. Some noob's stay noobs and are happy being noobs. The noob should have a quality security suite that is already setup for them or pay someone and someone to fix something for them down the road. An average user is suppose to be learning about security and software and should be able to fix some problems anask on forums for any needed help. I have even seen intermediates and supposed pros need some advice once in awhile. No software or setup will be perfect all the time. It's just the name of the Game and the more you know, the better off you are...

[YoKenny]

 No software or setup will be perfect all the time. It's just the name of the Game and the more you know, the better off you are...

+1

@ marc-d-l

I guess the 100 Million or so users are mostly just Joe Average and the noobs need a bit of help that they can get here.

I like to have my signature contain my system particulars and if it is good enough for DavidR that is an avast! Überevangelist then it is good enough for me as well.  

[Mele20]

Personally I think 5.0 is too complicated for the average PC user.Installing is not an easy task,especially if
every trace of the previous AV is not taken out.Then unless your a pro, getting it to work problem free takes a lot of trips to this forum,and a lot of determination.Unlike 4.8 where you downloaded and forgot about it.I recommended it to a lot of friends and most of them gave up on it.they all said (too complicated)
and went to other AV's)
Most  PC users want to turn the unit on and don't want to have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out
how an AV works,or have to spend hours on the net asking questions.
Make It Easy. Make It Simple. Make it so Joe Average can use it.

I found Avast 4.8 to be probably the MOST CONFUSING AND IRRITATING AV I have ever used and I am not an inexperienced user. I could not stand the utterly stupid, vapid, silly looking interface. An AV is NOT Winamp and its GUI should not make me look at the date to be sure I hadn't been transported back to 1998! I have used Norton, McAfee, BitDefender, GData, Eset, F-Prot, DrWeb, FSecure, Avira, Kaspersky, TrendMicro.  The worst of them was Avast 4.8. It drove me right up a wall trying to figure it out! That GUI was pathetic and not the slightest bit intuitive to use. Come Avast 5 and WOW! Fantastic GUI (best I have seen for an AV) and not a bit confusing. Not at all confusing, yet also manages to provide all the configuration ability that a more experienced user wants, while at the same time being simple (especially compared to 4. for the newbie or user who does not wish to learn anything about how to use their AV.

So, your comment really puzzles me as I find the opposite to be the case.

[Chris Thomas]

Most problems are happening to people to install Avast 5 over Avast 4

I think people need to do a fresh install of Avast 5 after uninstalling Avast 4

Switch on only the shields you need 

[twl845]

Personally I think 5.0 is too complicated for the average PC user.Installing is not an easy task,especially if
every trace of the previous AV is not taken out.Then unless your a pro, getting it to work problem free takes a lot of trips to this forum,and a lot of determination.Unlike 4.8 where you downloaded and forgot about it.I recommended it to a lot of friends and most of them gave up on it.they all said (too complicated)
and went to other AV's)
Most  PC users want to turn the unit on and don't want to have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out
how an AV works,or have to spend hours on the net asking questions.
Make It Easy. Make It Simple. Make it so Joe Average can use it.

Too complicated installing? How more simpler could it be. I don't care what AV you want to install. If you don't uninstall your old one completely you are probably going to have problems with the new one. When I decided to install Avast5, I went to my old AV web site and got the uninstall instructions they want you to use. After uninstalling, I used my registry cleaner to look for left in files, and then I did a search from the computer start menu for anything that had the old AV's name in any form, and deleted those. THEN I installed my Avast!5 with no problems. The installation process was short and simple clicking NEXT a few times. As for learning how the AV works, you open Avast and click the Help Center and read the instructions. Of coarse we aren't going to understand it all, so if it's something we have to know, we come to the forum and ask. I think the v5 GUI makes it really easy for the "average Joe" to navigate.  

[kyuuketsuki_kurai]

I've been working with computers since I was very young, back on Windows 3.x, and I'm used to less user friendly programs, and that's fine. However, I work in malware removal (used to do it as a paid job, now more for charity purposes), and trying to guide other people through 4.8, unless I was right there, was a nightmare.
5.0 is a much easier to use set-up, and I'm no longer afraid to recommend it to some of my more computer illiterate clients.
It's unfortunate that computers are having trouble, and yes the forums look like it's bad, but like it's been said before, people rarely post when they're happy with a product. It also doesn't help when people refuse to give information they feel is irrelevant. Even if the problem is with Avast, chances are it's in response to something on your computer, and without knowing what, it can't be fixed.

[twl845]

It's unfortunate that computers are having trouble, and yes the forums look like it's bad, but like it's been said before, people rarely post when they're happy with a product. It also doesn't help when people refuse to give information they feel is irrelevant. Even if the problem is with Avast, chances are it's in response to something on your computer, and without knowing what, it can't be fixed.

Well said. 

[yuerkxkbcwpfwb]

i have done more than 10 installs of v5 on comps with almost every version of windows from an original oem dell xp sp3 on up to current. all of these machines have had multiple vendors antivirus installed previously including avast 4.8. i also own 10 mbam pro licenses so 10 of the installs i've done are running avast 5 with mbam real time (including my brothers xp sp3 with 512mb ram) with no troubles. my advice to people having trouble is start using revo uninstaller and ccleaner religously - it's like taking your computer out for a walk, it's just good for it ..... and don't forget to do your backups! and honestly if revo and ccleaner and maybe an occasional regedit are too much, then just realize you need help and ask for it. i figure hundreds of thousands of v5 installs have been done. balance that against the complaints seen here. v5 does have some things to fix, but they're aren't very many programs that don't and i much prefer v5 to v4.8