Originally Posted by
green granite
My main objection to Windows firewall is that I cant stop programs accessing the net which is why I use Zone alarm, despite the fact it makes the system less stable.
Errr, yes you can (with the version of Windows Firewall in Win7 at least). I find that ZoneAlarm et al leave the end user with either a false feeling of impenetrability, a wide open system through misconfiguration, or a system that falls over and spends all it's time waiting for network timeouts through misconfiguration too. With Windows Firewall there's MUCH less need for a security professional setting it up, hence much less security issue (it also works well).