we will soon be releasing a new program update of avast. And as usual, we’re making it available for public testing a few days before the official release. The current version number is edit August 31: 6.0.1279.
This is hopefully going to be a smooth service release, mainly designed to fix some of the issues of the previous v6.0 builds.
Here’s an [incomplete] list of the most important changes:
New Script Shield - so far, it works in IE 32-bit and in Firefox. Chrome support coming soon!
Web Shield now scanning all processes by default
Stability improvements in aswSP.sys
Better tracking of file sources
WebRep now working in Firefox 6
Under-the-hood improvements in the Behavior Shield and Sandbox modules
Slight improvements in the product UI
And new in build 6.0.1273:
Solved the Firefox crash issue
A few stability improvements in the sandbox module (e.g. PDF reader support)
Cosmetic changes in the UI
And new in build 6.0.1279:
Solved a compatibility problem with QQ
Solved a compatibility problem with certain Steam-based games
Script Shield: Implemented a scanning cache which should prevent redundant/repetitive scans
Web Shield: scanning of all processes can now be disabled in shield’s Expert Settings
Cosmetic changes in the UI
Download links: links removed
You can either install from scratch, or over an existing installation of avast (any version).
Users of the previous beta can also use the normal in-product updater.
Nice. I like the improvements, especially the idea of Web Shield scanning all processes. Not all HTTP traffic comes from browsers which were by default included in the scanning process.
Good to see Script Shield working with Firefox as well.
Are Raxco PerfectDisk slowdown fixes included in this build?
@jvidal: As far as I remember, QA dept hasn’t been able to simulate this problem – they asked you about exact SUMO version, but I don’t remember how it was going…
I use the Firefox NoScript extension, and am wondering if there may be some issues between the two. IE, what happens if NoScript blocks a script, etc.? Anyway, I’ll soon find out.
Thks VLK!!! Looking for some Avast Pro improvements. So far, installation over the stable version proceeded without any problem and I rebooted normally after the update! 8)
Just tested the previous Sandbox problems (in Pro version). There don’t seem to have problems with videos like youtube but it is impossible to open a pdf (I use the Adobe Reader 10 browser extension) in a Sandboxed browser, firefox 6 for instance. This persisting problem is a bit annoying…
After installing the beta I get this error each time I check mail from my email program.
It’s strange. For the avast service indicated HAS rights in the firewall.
And there is no log entry in the firewall indicating that it has been blocked.
Also if I remove the right, I get no box asking for access (the firewall always do that).
So it seems like there is something else wrong.
With the last version I could not check mail at all through avast (had to delete all entries).
This will happen if any other program is already listening on any of the ports 12025, 12110, 12119 or 12143 (redirected SMTP, POP, NNTP and IMAP). You can use e.g. TcpView to find out which app is listening on those ports and therefore preventing the avast mail scanner from working correctly.
Looking for some Avast Pro improvements. 
So far, installation over the stable version proceeded without any problem and I rebooted normally after the update! 8)