* Free for home use.


* Supports Windows (including Vista) , Linux.


* The latest version of avast! anti virus kernel features outstanding detection abilities, together with high performance. You can

expect 100% detection of In-the-Wild viruses (viruses already spreading between users) and excellent detection of Trojan

horses.


* The kernel is certified by ICSA; and frequently takes part in the tests of Virus Bulletin magazine, often yielding the VB100

award.


* It can scan inside the following archives: ARJ, ZIP, MIME (+ all associated formats), MAPI (Outlook pst files), DBX (Outlook

Express archives), RAR, TAR, GZIP, CAB, BZIP2, ZOO, ACE, ARC, LHA/LHX, TNEF (winmail.dat), CPIO, CHM, RPM, ISO, 7ZIP

and SIS. It also supports a number of executable packers (such as PKLite, Diet, UPX, ASPack, PeShield, FSG, MEW etc.).


* The Simple User Interface is used to start on-demand scanning, work with the results and change various options. Basic

resident protection settings can be modified here.


* avast! Home Edition contains resident protection of the computer file system and a resident module for e-mails and news.

* Avast features a module for the protection of IM (Instant Messaging, "chat") programs, and a module for the protection of P2P

(peer-to-peer) programs. The list of supported IM and P2P programs is extensive with more than 30 programs currently

supported.


* A new resident protection module was added to avast! 4.5: the Network Shield. This module provides protection against known

Internet worms/attacks. It analyses all network traffic and scans it for malicious contents. It can be viewed as a lightweight

firewall (or more precisely, an IDS (Intrusion Detection System)).


* Web Shield is a unique feature of avast! that enables it to monitor and filter all HTTP traffic coming from the Web sites on the

Internet. Since an increasing number of viruses (and other malware, such as adware, spyware and dialers) are being distributed

via the World Wide Web, the need for an effective countermeasures has also increased. The Web Shield acts as a transparent

HTTP proxy and is compatible with all major web browsers, including Microsoft Internet Explorer, FireFox, Mozilla and Opera.



* If your Internet connection is persistent, the updates are performed completely automatically at fixed time intervals. If you

connect to the Internet only occasionally, avast! watches your connection and tries to perform the update when you are online.


* avast! antivirus features outstanding integration into your system. A scan can be started directly from Windows Explorer, by

clicking a folder or a file with your right mouse button and selecting the corresponding choice from the menu.