Scope of Protection:  

Avast Antivirus Professional Edition uses several layers of protection, keeping your PC and resources safe from several angles. With built-in protection from spyware, rootkits, Trojans and more, Avast is equipped for most common security threats. Avast includes protection from malware spread through email (scanning both inbound and outbound messages), and also has an integrated IM shield. Furthermore, Avast includes specific protection for several popular P2P file sharing applications.

Effectiveness:  

Avast is certainly an effective antivirus software, and one of the best. Virus Bulletin not only certified the software with a VB100% (caught 100% of in-the-wild viruses), but also found the software’s proactive and reactive scanners to be quite effective, with a combined score of 71.4 (and no false positives).

AV Comparatives certainly agrees that Avast is top-notch, with a very high 98% detection rate, one of the best in the industry. AV Comparatives deemed Avast Antivirus Professional Edition as one of the 7 best overall solutions, earning an Advanced A+ rating.

Ease of Installation:  

Avast Antivirus Professional Edition is easy to install and setup. After the program is installed, you are encouraged to restart the computer and let Avast run a preemptive scan that will help locate and remove any deep-rooted viruses that could interfere with setup. The whole process of installing the software is pretty straightforward and easy, and doesn’t require much additional setup.

Avast has one of the most effective antivirus scanning engines, but it doesn’t mean it’s the slowest. In fact, the antivirus software is remarkably efficient with resources and is a speedy program. AV Comparatives clocked the software scanning 17.4MB/second, right on par with Norton and is significantly faster than several competitors.

Ease of Use:  

Avast is designed to do most of the work behind-the-scenes, keeping your computer protected without much user interaction. Files are scanned in real-time, on access (every time they’re opened) and you won’t even notice it. The unique skin-able interface is striking and pretty easy to use once you get it down. Unfortunately, the advanced interface is not only far from aesthetic, but also a bit cumbersome. Setting scheduled scans and running manual “tasks” in advanced mode is certainly not for the average user.

One convenient feature for laptop/netbook users is a battery saving mode. Simply selecting a few options in the settings will optimize Avast so that it doesn’t start scans when your notebook is running on battery power, and can even automatically stop scanning in the middle of the process if/when it detects that the battery power is being used.

Features:  

Avira has all the essential features and more. One very unique element of the software is the interface. The default dashboard is actually a ‘radio’ style interface with all of the major components packaged in various buttons, like the scan button as the ‘play’ button. And while it takes a minute to get down the control scheme, it’s certainly easy to figure out and sort of refreshing. If you don’t like that interface, you can completely customize the application with one of over 35 skins (ranging from Star Trek to Spiderman to Vista-themed).

Updates:  

Timely updates are a key element in effective antivirus protection, and Avast doesn’t disappoint. Regular virus signature updates are delivered on a daily basis (or can be checked for manually). But even better, when the Avast network has a new update on brand new “zero-hour” malware, they deliver the updates immediately. These “PUSH” updates are initiated by Avast and ensure a speedy delivery of the most up-to-date security measures.

Help & Support:  

Avast has decent support in-program and online, but they’re a bit lacking. Online you can find answers to questions with the user guide, knowledgebase, or support forum. Specific questions can be directed to the support department via email, but only after registering. And though there are several pictures of telephones in the support center, we weren’t able to find any actual phone numbers.

Overall, the Professional Edition of Avast Antivirus is a great choice, and certainly one of the best antivirus software available. The software is not only one of the most effective, but also one of the most efficient. We liked the simple skinned interface, but the advanced mode definitely needs some work. And while we would have liked to see a few more features and better product support, we can definitely recommend Avast Antivirus.