ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en&lid=nav_za) by Zone Labs.

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I agree with Sean, ZoneAlarm is the way to go, unless someone will give me proof that something else is better, In which case I may just switch!

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The best one is Kerio http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Kerio.cfm

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Sygate all the way. Find that last free version (its worth it). ZoneAlarm is a bloated memory hog. Sygate is nice and compact and won't steal too much from free resources.

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Sygate, although no longer available as free from their site. :(

The last time I saw Zone Alarm, it seemed cartoony compared to Sygate.

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Since you have been using SPF for a long time I'm assuming it's protected you well. So why would you want to try something else now? :)

Its job is to protect you and it's doing it perfectly. And the 'advanced rules' make it very flexible.
Why would you want something MORE from a firewall? That's just my way of looking at it.

It would be nice if people actually mentioned a feature or two they like about their firewall of choice rather than just mention its name.

- Sygate Loyalist

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Give Comodo firewall at http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/ a try. It's free for life, and is tremendously configurable.

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It's been years since I've used SyGate, but to be honest I'm not sure why I left it for ZoneAlarm. I recall that ZA did better on some firewall tests, for example those at www.grc.com (the SheildsUp! tests).

That being said, I can't say I'm a happy ZA user. Too often they have issues with their updates, I've had the ZA process go crazy eating up CPU, and it's not small. So I'm tempted to go dig out an old version of SyGate...

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I did like Comodo, but when I tried it a couple of months ago, it didn't support Fast User Switching in Windows XP - pretty crucial if you want to protect your PC under any account that is logged in.

I'm still using ZoneAlarm just because I haven't found something better. I'm not crazy about it, so perhaps I'll try one of these other recommendations until Comodo support FUS.

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I would seriously consider if you really need one or not.
If you use the built in Windows firewall and are behind a NAT router the likelihood of someone getting to your machine from the outside is slim.
As a DLS worker I assume you install a lot of unknown apps. If you are concerned about outgoing traffic, you really would be better served by installing those apps on a VM, which would make the outbound traffic issue moot.
Most people would have no idea how to respond when the firewall popup question appears (so they usually just allow everything so the app works). Being smart about what you do and where you go online is at least as important as having a FW in place.

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Folks, The GUI is not the main point when you select a firewall. Zonealarm firewalls are NOT memory hog as I am using them for more than a year on my slow pc (the famouse memory hogs are norton products!), they were quite effective and buzz free for me. I agree that the security suit included antivirus and antispyware are weak. I usually use PC magazine reviews for my selection Go to the link below read the reviews and decide for yourself.

http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1874,4829,00.asp

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Another vote here for Zone Alarm, but the reason I like it is that it is very simple (read: good) for newbies who don't know what a firewall is. They can read the pop-ups and I train them a bit to know which programs are okay, and what the hacking attempts look like. The more advanced ones just make it hard for these folks, but ZA is fairly simple.

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I agree with Peter and was going to say the same thing. My windows box doesn't run a firewall at all...why? I've got it on a gigabit lan with 3 other machines...all behind a router. It's a pretty good guess that most people with broadband have a router and that their machines are NATted and nothing can get to them anyway.

I have exactly one port forwarded to the windows box, and it's autoforwarded by uTorrent. I use RDC, but only from inside the network or over an SSH tunnel with a linux box.

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Zone Alarm - interface is silly but perfectly usable - and since you almost never use it - the whole point is set and forget - why would that matter?

Bottom line is 1) it works really really well - never one problem in >2 years. 2) installs easy. 3) easy to turn on and off for complicated and weird apps 4) it IS a pain about updates - either turn them off and do a manual every couple of months - or set it to just do them and be prepared for weekly slowdowns and restarts while it updates.

I don't switch because it really works

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Just the built-in Windows XP SP2 firewall and ofcourse a hardware firewall built in my modem/router. It's good 'nuff :)

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Just one remark.. Windows Firewall is a one-direction firewall (inbound). I would really only use a product that allows Outbound scanning as well. Just to be sure that all the apps we find at DownloadSquad are not 'calling home' without permission. :-)
Been forced to use the Norton products for to long and now really happy to have switched to latest McAfee product. Not free i know, but I am willing to pay for some peace of mind.
I can not stand walking around with 1400+ laptop, having usd 350+ spent on Office software and then do the most important thing (security) as cheap as possible. If I would, ZoneAlarm would be my choice.

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what about for 64 bit windows systems? Zone Alarm free doesn't work with the 64 bit version of Win XP Pro.

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What peter says.

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Actually, for my extended family I install ZoneAlarm. But my immediate family uses Windows Firewall and (gasp!) common sense.

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