Can’t say I’ve seen a big orange banner myself, but I generally keep it up to date. Last year I had an issue after an upgrade where I had to uninstall and reinstall to make it work right, but nothing since worth mentioning. Outside of very occasional false positives it’s not giving me any trouble.

I don’t know what else you’d think it would need. When does an anti-malware package NOT need ongoing development to keep up with the latest tech in malware? But you might be practicing good habits and have other things configured (as I do) that keep Avast from being hit by real malware, in which case the safety net isn’t your first line of defense.

-Noel