While the first issue is certainly a disappointment, specially for users with "automatic" program updates not being applied (partially losing the Avast Free advantage mentioned before), the second issue has NO actual public answer/discussion whatsoever, and most frequent (forum) users are simply taking your easy path, so not enough reports about it are being gathered. While considering those million of simple users (and ultimately, all Avast's users), I only can hope.

Good point,

It really boils down to this. For the users who set “Program Notification” to Automatically Update, (changing the default from “Ask” to “Automatic”) who apply a “Set it and Forget it” approach to their security software. Those who never open up the Avast GUI may naturally think they are automatically protected when they may not be protected with the latest version of the program.

Which brings up another NEW question for this topic, and its a good one:

“When updates for the Avast program are changed from the default setting of “Ask” to “Automatic,” are the users SUPPOSED to see any prompt from the system when an update has taken place?” For example, is there a notice of a reboot after a program update, or does Avast reboot on its own follow an update, with BOTH Virus Definitions and Program Update Settings set on Automatic?"

Jack