Features

avast! Free Antivirus is loaded with tons of features. From the home tab you can gain quick access to your system status, virus scan, software updater, stats, and the market. Features like the firewall and SafeZone require a premium subscription.

The software updater that's included with avast! Free Antivirus alerts users about outdated applications that are installed but only offers a link to the program page to download the latest update. Paying for a premium subscription will allow you to update your apps within the application. There's even an option to update automatically in the paid versions of avast!

avast! Free Antivirus offers more than just virus protection. The application also includes "cloud services," which gathers information from other avast! users to compare the reputation of similar files. These updates are constantly streamed to and from avast! so users don't have to worry about downloading updates.

New to avast! Free Antivirus is the Market where you can purchase additional features and services. The app itself is very good at reminding users how many features are missing so the Market makes it even more tempting to upgrade. Purchases can be made directly inside the application.

Usability

Using avast! Free Antivirus is very straightforward. Features and sections of the application are clearly marked with short explanations about what each feature does.

Like with many other antivirus applications, the amount of options and features is a little overwhelming. There are icons in the Security tab that are clearly marked with a green status light indicating everything is working as it should. This makes it easy to see what parts of the application require user action.

For the most part, avast! Free Antivirus is an application that you can configure and forget about. The program will display a popup if anything needs your action.

Quality

avast! Free Antivirus is well designed with tons of features. While it's not as simple as it could be, it works well and is completely free. It's nice that avast! Free Antivirus doesn't include an annoying tool bar, but it does install a web extension to monitor malicious links while you're browsing.

While avast! Free Antivirus excels as an antivirus application, it doesn't do much in the way of being a one-stop-shop for all your computer maintenance needs. Other apps like IObit's Advanced Systemcare with Antivirus offer more features that will make sure your computer is running its fastest.

Scans were performed quickly but not the best we've seen. This really depends on your hardware and how many files you have on your computer.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, it's easy to see what avast! Free Antivirus remains at the top of our download charts. The amount of features that free users have access to is amazing. While it's annoying that the app nags you to upgrade to a paid subscription, it's a small price to pay for a well designed antivirus solution that's completely free. Now if only avast! could include some computer maintence features.

What's new

Download avast! Free Antivirus 8.0.1489 in Softonic

Easy installtion and configuration

Installing Ares only takes a few minutes and the interface is simple enough that anybody will feel comfortable with it. When you start Ares, it lets you auto-scan your PC to find files you might like to share on the network. Beginners will be relieved to know that there is no complex configuration</strong> process - all you need to do is select the search tab and type the name of the file you want. Once it appears, double click to begin downloading. You’ll be able to check progress in the transfer tab. The recent update adds bittorrent support, opening Ares up to loads of new content.

Chat client

If you enjoy communicating with other users, click on the chat tab and connect to one of the thousands of channels available. You can pick up tips on how to use Ares better, ask which files other users recommend or just talk about your life in general. You can even insert emoticons into your conversation and keep a list of your favorite chat channels.

Detailed previews of files

Of all the P2P programs, Ares probably features the widest preview screen. You can set it to fit to screen or adjust it to your preference. This is a great way of making sure you’re downloading the right movie or to get a sneak peak at your downloads.

Unlike WinMX or FileNavigator, the two other spin-off Gnutella projects, Ares did not drop into obscurity and unites a flourishing community of users. However, the same old problems seem to arise. According to many Ares users, the application suffers from connection problems that make it difficult to properly search for a file or successfully complete downloads. Others will worry that Ares is a smaller network than the globally used Gnutella and does not offer as many download sources.

Conclusion

Ares is an ambitious project, and the fact that it still remains standing while eDonkey has fallen is characteristic of its reliability. Thanks to a strong community of users, a simple interface, a great preview page and multichat service, it's a sharing app that's still going strong. Ares is the P2P app of choice for anybody interested in sharing files over the internet.

Download Ares 2.2.4 in Softonic