As you say the official AVG Free support forum states updates for AVG v7.5 will continue until December 31st 2008 - http://freeforum.avg.com/read.php?1,123812
Even the AVG v8 Technical FAQ gives this December date http://www.grisoft.com/ww.faq.num-1350#faq_1350

And yet the installed (v7.5) program continues to hassle users with a garish popup proclaiming your AntiVirus will expire on May 31st 2008. AVG Technologies are well aware of this contradiction but seem to feel this is an acceptable marketing ploy. For a leading company in the security industry to resort to this kind of misleading tactics is very worrying.

“For a leading company in the security industry to resort to this kind of misleading tactics is very worrying.”

Good point.

Don’t worry about that. It’s good for users to upgrade. I personally upgraded from 7.5 to 8.0 and love it.

Hi FearedBliss,
Same here. No problems and I like it as well.

I had hoped that once we were past the May 31st deadline things would become clearer, and we could coast along to the “real” deadline of December 31st.

But as of today we now have a new “official” deadline - of June 25th 2008 - displayed as of today by the installed v7.5 Free program.
http://www.stargaterebellion.net/images/AVG_June25th.JPG - Link to new June 25th Popup - received on a system running XP Pro.

To confuse matters further I received the following email response from AVG Customer Service a few days ago:

“The AVG FREE Edition 7.5 will discontinue as of May 31st 2008 however the AVG 7.5 Paid Editions will continue until December. This is not a marketing ploy.
Regards,
Jason Robins
Customer Service
AVG Technologies”

I think AVG are having a serious communication problem - and in the process are damaging their reputation as a leading security company.

Hello DougCuk,

I agree. I think this is turning into a disaster waiting to happen.

If AVG is saying the freebie expires on May 31st, why are you getting the June 25th warning?

Thanks for the info.

I just got the june 25th warning also. I will be switching soon… No more avg for me. Especially after hearing how slow and bloated 8.0 is.

I also got the new deadline message today -25th June 2008. I have installed AVG on a number of PCs belonging to friends and family members, and this is causing me major concern. AVG 8 does not seem to be as user friendly as previous versions, and as for having to use command prompts to uninstall new features such as a task bar and link scanner… this is going to be a major headache for the majority of users.
Grisoft need to clear and unequivocal about when updates for 7.5 will end. In the meantime, I’ll be looking into other options. Can anyone tell me how Avast compares… and is it suitable for non-techies?

Hello DazedandConfus,

There is a new version 1315 that after install allows you to remove modules i.e. safe surf, link scanner & Office plug ins. I tried it last night and it worked perfectly. No command prompts were necessary. See what you think and let me know.

http://www.lockergnome.com/blade/2008/06/05/avg-8-new-updated-version/

Regards, Ron

Hello Ron

Thanks for the tip.

By coincidence, today while having my hair cut, my stylist was moaning about how he was having major problems with his computer -and it transpired that he had attempted to upgrade to AVG 8!

In short, there seemed to be no way to activate the email scanner (he upgraded from 7.5 free), and that horrible unwanted toolbar was there, in addition to his google toolbar, taking up at least 10% of his screen.

I intend to wait for two weeks while closely monitoring a selection of forums (including this one!), before making a decision whether to upgrade. It hardly fills me with confidence in the new version that there is so much confusion and so many unanswered questions out there.

I read your post regarding ‘version 1315′ in the link above, and this is indeed good news, but it is plain to see that something has gone very wrong in the rolling out of this upgrade. I have been using AVG free for around 5 years and never have I read so much negative feedback about a new version.

Kind regards,

Chris

Hi Chris,
Like yourself I have been using AVG for about 5 years. I have it installed on both my personal & business systems. I have also recommended AVG to family, friends and also to my clients.

The negativity to AVG 8 is disheartening. Grisoft has also added to the confusion by having a link to the paid version of AVG 8 pop up in AVG 7.5. Another sour point is the confusion over when 7.5 actually expires.

On the positive side some people are using AVG 8 without issues and actually give high praises to the new software.

Regards, Ron

At the risk of double posting I will repeat the following - which I have just posted to one of your other AVG threads.

While some improvements have already been included in the current 1315 release it appears a number of significant fixes are still stuck in Beta testing.

A member of the AVG Development Team - posting under the name Vinzenz.Ewido - and several of the Beta testers - have posted info on the Wilders Security Forum regarding the next major update to the AVG 8.0 program. Link to thread - http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=209276

Internally the AVG Team are calling this next major AVG 8 update “SP1″ (aka v8.0 build 111) - this update is supposed to resolve a large number of the current problems - including some Firefox v3 compatibility issues. However as of today this is still only available to Beta testers.

With any luck this update may at last allow AVG 8 installation to be as trouble free as v7.5 has been.

This morning a new pop-up appeared after AVG 7.5 updated, which read the deadline for Free AVG 7.5 is approaching fast as of 25 August 2008. What is this nonsense and what is the truth? Can anyone help? I would like to use AVG Free as long as absolutely possible as my system will not accept the new AVG 8.0. Thank you!

Hello Adrianna,
The last updates for Free AVG 7.5 is 12-31-08. The notice you are receiving is in error.
Hope this helps.

1/30/09

7.5 still updating……hmmm

Hello Jay Roy,
Interesting. I don’t think AVG had a very good handle exactly to what was going on by their very own people.

Regards, Ron

I’m still using AVG 7.5 as of Feb. 6, 2009, and it’s still updating regularly without any problems or errors.