Avast Free Antivirus is a full-featured product, with the same antivirus and anti-spyware scanning engine used in our premium products. Leaner and meaner version 6.0 provides even faster protection than its predecessor and offers a web-reputation browser extension as well as virtualization technology. Accurate threat updates via avast! CommunityIQ technology ensure worry-free downloading, surfing, social networking, and gaming--for over 150 million registered users (and over 125 million active users).

What's new in this version: Version 6.0.1203 improved compatibility with Windows Vista SP0/SP1 (activation issues). Attempt to solve the "Windows Media Player using a red skin" problem. Firewall: solved the compatibility problem with uTorrent. Improved load time of WebRep IE plugin. Fixed a bug in Google Chrome WebRep plugin causing excessive CPU usage. Improved the silent installer. Improved the CommunityIQ sample submission process. Improved detection/removal of the most stubborn rootkits (TDL family).Various stability and compatibility improvements in the sandbox module. Added new CreditAlert feature (US customers only). Added Thai and Serbian language packs.

When it comes to your security, Avast Free Antivirus 6 gets a lot right. It's got a usable, uncluttered interface, solid although not stellar benchmarks, and a set of features that keeps it at the forefront of Windows security. Using the Internet safely is no longer just about not getting phished and downloading only known-safe files, and the improvements in Avast 6 address modern security risks comprehensively.

Although we'd like to see stronger efficacy benchmarks in the future, Avast's impact on system performance is light in the most important categories of startup, shutdown, and scan speed. Avast remains one of the best free security options around and is well worth downloading.