New interface, features capstone Avast 8 (pictures)

Avast's changes its design and its color scheme. While the paid versions retain a dark theme, Avast Free goes back to basic white. The interface across all four versions is now much simpler, with big tiles and easier-to-reach advanced settings.

Avast has finally put all of its "shields" in one management pane, to decrease your pain. They're available in all versions of the suite, depicted here in the Pro version.

Avast's new browser cleanup tool would've been killer a few years back, but it's still useful for keeping your browser shipshape. It's available in all four versions.

Avast now comes with a software updater, which tells you when an installed program is out-of-date. It's available in all four Avast versions, although it comes with more options in the paid suites.

An unusual move for Avast 8 was to include a remote access feature. The implementation sounds weird, too, with both computers required to have some version of the suite. A Web console would be better for easy access.

Avast 8 Premier offers a multitiered data shredder, a smart move for maintaining file security.