I have just started to use Avast! 5 free and really loving it. What I don’t understand is why do I have to register a free product? And why just for one year? And after this one year, do I need to buy Avast! pro or Internet Security? Some clarification could help.
Registration helps avast to plan the number of update servers it is going to need to service the virus signature, engine and program updates without causing update problems for users.
The annual re-registration confirms the number of active users, for the same reasons.
By having users re-register every year it ensures Avast has an accurate count of active users of their free product. Like the others said, I’m sure thats important in building their infrastructure, building new software releases, and general QA.