This is a comparison of the personal firewall softwares for a Windows PC.
Kerio remains the best firewall for my needs. The free version has all the
features of the paid version and it's very easy to use even when creating
advanced rules. However, the current beta version has bugs,
I would recommend waiting until it's released. Meanwhile, Kerio 2.1.5 should
work very well.
Second choice is Outpost. I did not like the fact that its interface blends
with Windows XP (other people may like that). I want the alerts to stand out
from all other windows I may have on my desktop. It recognized common
applications and already had rules for them. But it had a bug where the ports
were not stealth even though the option was enabled. This firewall may be a
good choice for non-expert users.
Third choice is Zone Alarm Pro (or Plus if not interested in privacy features
such as cookie and ad blocking). The free version lacks the expert rules
feature. But keep in mind that Zone Alarm is not trivial to configure.
If interested in IM security, IMSecure Pro should be considered either
individually or in a bundle with Zone Alarm.
For a non-expert user the choices should be: Kerio, Outpost, ZoneAlarm.
Details (in the order of my ranking):
1) Kerio 4.0.4 (beta):
+ my long time favorite
+ all the features I am looking for
+ free home version is identical to the paid version, so you get all
the features
- it's beta, it still has bugs
2) Outpost 2.0 Pro:
+ pluggable modules, some free are available, such as spyware blocking,
ad blocking, etc.
+ features on par with Kerio and ZoneAlarm
+ recognizes common applications and prompts you to add the rules for
those apps (on an app by app basis or all known apps). Bonus: It even
recognizes MyIE :)
- interface blends with XP (I don't like it because I want my alert
windows to look different from regular windows so I pay attention and
not just click OK by accident)
- ports appear as closed, not stealth, even though it has an option to
stealth ports -- it must not work right as I have it enabled
- free home version lacks features, Pro is the way to go here
3) ZoneAlarm 4.0 Pro:
- a little hard to configure, it has too many options, sometimes not in
obvious places
- free version lacks expert rules support
- doesn't have global setting to allow DNS, a custom rule needs to be made
- it blocked IP printing by default
+ nice how you can close multiple alerts with one click (though you can
miss other important alerts if not paying attention)
+ should consider a bundle with IMSecure (secure IM for all protocols)
4) Sygate 5.0 Pro:
+ very popular, a lot of people swear by it
+ free home version available, though not all features available
- not my impression, it's easy to use for regular users, but hard for
advanced, hard-core users
- hard to make advanced rules
- doesn't have the concept of a trusted area
- the UI is kinda weird, sometimes windows are blocked to a fixed size
and you have to scroll left to right a lot
5) Tiny 5.0:
+ the most advanced of them all
+ can protect files and registry - very very hard to configure
- not tiny, it's a monster
- didn't block anything out of the box but I must have selected
something wrong during the install wizard
- UI is HTML based, it's SLOW
- you can write your own UI for it (some people think this is +)
6) [Name deleted because they spammed my blog with advertisement] 3.11:
- it's an amateur firewall, needs to grow a lot more
- doesn't protect against application replacement (MD5 checksum)
- no trusted zone
- translation to English is Jackie Chan style
- no free version, but it's the cheapest of all of them ($19.95)
+ pop-up stopper
+ some spyware cleanup
