I would like to suggest to the Avast developers to create a compact version of the Free Antivirus, like Bitdefender or Panda free versions. I make this suggestion because, in my particular case, I would like to be able to install a simpler version of the program, with a cleaner, easier-to-use GUI, without a bunch of icons leading me to payment applications that I will never use. This version could have, for example, the antivirus and antimalware protection components, the password manager and the new version of the Safezone Browser. I would like to know the impressions of other forum users on this idea.
Well Avast free already has a Minimal Install, if users do a custom install, but it still doesn’t get rid of the clutter of the paid elements they are hoping you might upgrade too. Today it is the marketing guys trying to increase revenue streams to recover the billions they have paid out for various company/product purchases. So I can’t see them changing that anytime soon. Nor can I see them having two different UIs, if you can remember when there were two different UIs paid and free and many didn’t like the free version look.
I don’t live in the UI, but I possibly spend more time there than the average user, previous Beta testing and related questions in the forums. Outside of that I rarely have need to venture in the UI. I rarely run on-demand scans other than what was previously stated, so I don’t bump into the bat of things found on a scan that you can’t action unless you upgrade.
My biggest bone of contention is the bloody massive UI and the total reluctance of avast to allow the main UI to be resizeable. I guess this minimal UI suggestion will have the same reluctance.