David,
I downloaded the new version from the link posted in final release thread.
That is all well and good, but what it doesn’t do is get rid of all of this user confusion, when what has the same version number as the last beta to be released iin the regular update stream with the same bloody version number.
I have been banging on about this for some considerable time and it has been like this for years and the confusion is evident in the forums every time they do that.
It also doesn’t help that the notification of a New Program Version doesn’t appear in the main ‘Avast Free Antivirus / Pro Antivirus / Internet Security/ Premier’ section of the forums.
Again we have a beta that was released and the following day it is released as a regular program update - how can anything be tested in a day - a total waste of time bothering to release it as a beta.
For all that could have been done/tested/feedback in a day, Avast could have released it under a regular program update with this 17.8.2318 version number that hadn’t been used as a beta. This would have alleviated the confusion we see in the forums when they do this.
Obviously I’m not happy with this process. I’m the one who insisted that the user who questioned the update must have been wrong.
All of that could have been avoided by simply using a different release naming policy.
Betas should have a beta connotation in the version. If that were the case, there wouldn’t have been any confusion.
Avast doesn’t agree with that. It’s their program. We only use it. 
They could use a different binary so the version number would change between BETA and Stable releases…
Apparently that’s not the current practice. This is what I was told.
“we discussed the beta and public many times already. it’s the same binary so it has the same number
and yes we usually publish a day before a public release to do a last check for crashes”
A normal user does not go to the forums, he updates his antivirus when the program sends him a notification.
A version number “release” may have the same number as the version “beta” if the version was deemed stable and deliverable.
Do not confuse the terms version number and build number which is quite different. I do not think the current “release” to the same build number as the “beta”.
The only thing that is regrattable indeed is the forum which is a little abandoned by Avast and Avast could have effectively warned users of its forum the release of a new version before the addition of this new version in the channel of distribution “release”.
But we must trust Avast and if a new version is available on the channel “release” is that it is a “stable” version …
the new version of avast has been using too much of my CPU to the point where i cant even play TF2 anymore, and it isn’t even scanning. unless its trying to decode nuclear codes i don’t see why it has to use 30% of my processor. plz fix.
Try the following:
Repair Avast:
Control Panel> Program and Features (Add/remove program)>Select Avast> Select Repair. Reboot when completed
https://www.avast.com/faq.php?article=AVKB204
If Repair doesn’t fix the problem, try the following:
Clean Install of Avast:
https://goo.gl/4Ptzkf
If you need additional help with the Clean Install, watch this:
https://youtu.be/p-h3myRD51A
We seem to have skipped a week in the beta offerings.
Hope that means bug fixes are abundant.
Let’s wait and see a few more days, they often release betas on Thursday or Friday… 