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Ukrainian Greetings from Redmond
We have spent the last week in the main Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA, making sure avast! works great on Windows 7. As a matter of fact, we have had two teams here working in parallel: one that takes care of interoperability issues (interoperability with both the new OS as well as other software applications) and one for the logo certification.
And what a week it was!
During that time, we tested avast with over 15 other low-level applications and fixed a few compatibility issues. For example, we made sure avast! works flawlessly with the upcoming Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) – a program that has severe issues with the current avast beta build 5.0.89, by the way (so this will be fixed in the next beta build, due in a couple of days). Also, we made sure that the new features that are coming up in avast 5, such as persistent caching, process virtualization and the firewall work great under Windows 7.
We’re generally pretty excited about Windows 7, and hope it will be adopted soon, as it’s not only nice for the users but it also brings a number of improvements and fixes for software developers.
The logo certification team was also busy making sure all compatibility issues are resolved and we meet all the requirements Microsoft defined for well-behaved Windows 7 applications. And their efforts were successful – in fact, they managed to earn the “Compatible with Windows 7″ logo for avast (so far, the logo has only been given to avast 4.8 as Microsoft doesn’t provide logos for beta software; but we’re making sure that as soon as avast 5 is released, it will also have the logo). This is what it looks like:
Also, we will soon be listed on the Microsoft Antivirus partner pages (for Windows 7, Vista and XP). I expect there will be an official press release about this during the next week, too.
Now, we haven’t been only working here – fortunately, we found some spare time and headed to White Salmon River for some whitewater fun. White Salmon is one of the very few rivers raftable even in late summer – that’s because it is fed with glacier meltwater (Mount Adams Glacier). Here are some pictures, hope you enjoy them (no worries, we survived). 
avast! on Twitter
avast! on Facebook
This is why avast! is a top class company. How many antivirus companies that are on the other side of the world fly out all the way to Microsoft to make sure their product (the best in the industry in my opinion) will work with Windows 7. I am looking forward to avast! 5.0 with firewall and avast! is the best I have used and I will not switch to another AV solution.
Vince, you are the right man for the CEO job. Avast could have not chosen a better man.
All we can say is nice news and we can see that ALWIL Software can also have fun some time like us. And i just smell that Avast! 5 will be really a great great AV + Suite. Its maybe not finished but when its will i can say to all you will really enjoy it. Its look really fun their GUI and all i can say i cant wait for it but for sure you dont have to worry about that.
Hopefully none of the crew went overboard. Nice work.
I have used avast anti virus .. it’s great! really cool one.
Dear All,
That is good, finally avast have tested and got certified for Windows compatibility and will listed at Microsoft Antivirus Partners Page.
This news what i am waiting for, it would be great for avast in term of branding your products and company.
Regards,
Yanto Chiang
Avast! is simply the best AV out there. Ever since I switched to Avast!, never had any cause to complain and it works seamlessly fine. Looking forward to version 5.0.
-Obie
That looks like an ace way to spend some free time after all that hard work!
I switched to avast ages ago and have always found it rock solid and does not cause any other applications to crash. I always recommend avast when people ask what I recommend. There pc’s always end up stable and working faster after they make the switch to avast. I can’t wait for version 5! I have a free upgrade coming from MS for Windows 7 Ultimate x64 so I am chuffed to bits I will still be able to run avast, maid my week that news has! It’s great to see you guys taking the time to go to MS and get avast working on Windows 7. Way to go! I hope avast 5 will be released soon!
Keep up the great work!
Alwil should accept donations for the Avast Home, like Spybot Search & Destroy, SUPERAntiSpyware and Openoffice.org do with their software.
Greetings from Chile of Juan, a fan of Avast Home.
The user donations from around the world, are a good way to permanently strengthen Avast Home.
Avast can beat to Avira and AVG. I even think that Avast can become the best antivirus in the world. However, Avast Home, must always remain strong and should be done through donations from around the world.
I’m sorry but there are currently no plans to accept donations. We’re not a charity / non-profit organization, we earn money by selling our paid products (for more detailed explanation on how it works, please check out Vince’s recent post here)
Yes, if people want to support avast, they can spend their money on avast paid products
I have been using Avast Home with Windows 7 since Nov 08 (going on 10 months) and it has worked Flawlessly!
Thank you!
Glad to hear that A! is getting set for Windows 7. I’ve been using and recommending A! for a long time now, and I’ve really grown to love Windows 7 over the last few months. Well done, Alwil!
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and SUPERAntiSpyware are not charities, but they accept donations for their free versions. Moreover, these companies sell paid versions. Ultimately the decision to accept donations for the free version it’s Alwil. I have simply expressed an idea for Avast, which I think is a software of the highest excellence.
Greetings from Chile of Juan.
I have been using Avast for many years.I love to dabble with different software and try different products alot.I not only try different anti-virus software but others as well.I always come back to Avast because it has been the most stable anti-virus I have ever used.It has kept my pc’s safe many times over.Thanks alot to Avast for a magnificent product!I am using Windows 7 beta at the moment and I am not experiencing any problems whatsoever.I even tried the Avast 5 beta and it also worked great with Windows 7.My hats off to you Avast and the fine people that work there.Keep up the good work.Sincerely Robert Hall USA.
Avast simply rocks!
Cheers and keep up the great work. Can’t wait for the release of Avast 5!
@JW
Please make Avast good looking as AVG…. Many free users are tempted to download AVG because of its look and feel….
Try your best…
Why is there a lot of noise about AVG link scanner…Guys be proactive…your main competitor is AVG…Bring’em down…
Even though avast! is now Windows 7 compatible, the latest build of avast! does not list Windows 7 in its system requirements dialog during installation. And nor does this page from avast! website: http://www.avast.com/eng/system-requirements-avast-professional.html. Please fix this.
Does the Windows 7 compatability work going to extend to the Avast BART CD? Vista’s been out for over 2.5 years and BART was never updated to work with it. Is there any intention to get the BART CD working on operating systems released in the past 5 years? Is there a firm timeline?
What exactly “does not work with Vista” regarding the existing version of avast! BART CD?
@vlk
You cannot use it to scan any system with Vista installed as the included version of Windows PE that it boots from doesn’t support the changes in the NTFS file system in Vista and therefore doesn’t recognise the drives you are trying to scan.
@Greg Priestley
Hmm, I don’t believe this is the case. The format of the NTFS volumes hasn’t changed in Vista, really. What you’re saying would e.g. mean that no USB (portable) hard drives formatted as NTFS under Vista would be accessible from within WinXP, which is certainly not true.
@vlk
Are just speculating or do have you actually tried running it on Vista? It hasn’t worked on any machines I’ve tried. It works perfectly on XP.
They keep talking about a new release based on the Vista version of WinPE to solve the problems. But it’s been all talk and no release. Hence my original question. Are they going to do a finalised (non beta) release that actually works with current operating system releases? Or are they just going to continue to ignore updating this product?
Great news…thanks Avast team..keep up the good work.When is the rest of Avast 5 beta products be available other than the home edition?