[EDIT 2] "If you're an existing user, you don't need to do anything—you'll be updated automatically." - This is not yet true. Refer to Bob's comment in this thread.
www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-antivirus-for-mac-home-edition.aspx
The main new features are that SAV 8 includes scheduled scanning, live "in the cloud" lookups to verify detected files (resulting in fewer false-positives), and an improved user interface -- based partly on the feedback from this forum. It also includes under-the-hood improvements in how it interacts with OS X, which should fix the problems some users have been having with encrypted or backup volumes.
Hi,
Yes you need to install version 8 manually today, if you really want to upgrade. This isn't required though. We also released version 7.3.10 which provides the same protection as version 8 does, but doesn't include the new features.
We will be automatically upgrading all the version 7.3.x users to the new version in the coming month or two.
Hope that helps!
Hi,
Live AV Protection works by sending encoded queries to our cloud SXL servers during scans. This allows more rapid response to emerging theats. There is some reading material on our website about it here.
Note that the Mac platform doesn't yet have the Live URL Protection feature listed at the bottom of that page. This release does contain the AV Protection listed at the top.