Zone Alarm Pro firewall free for 24 hours

Thanks for that heads-up, beversoll.

ZA free firewall was once the best available, but it bloated and fell into disrepute. The free version got dismal ratings at matousec (an independent FW testing site) and ZA no longer even submits the free version to matousec for testing.

The paid version of ZA gets a "Good" rating currently at matousec, and I would be interested to see what its users report.
http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php

For those interested in downloading this paid version for free, be aware that it is a suite that includes not only a FW, but also an anti-spyware and ID protection service. I have to wonder about its compatibility with Windows Defender, resident MBAM, and other real-time programs. I also note that the last time I tried to download ZA free FW it tried to install the ASK toolbar, which is adware, by default. For this reason, ZA updates are no longer reported at CoU.

My reservations about ZA are entirely limited to my experiences with its free FW. I have no experience with its paid version.

Finally, be aware that this promotion is the equivalent of a one year free trial version. Thereafter you will have to pay.

Thanks for the additional info Joe.  I have never used Zone Alarm and was not aware of the added features in the pro version, specifically the toolbar issue.  After your info I highly doubt I will install ZA on my pc.  I was going to install just to try it out, but will stick with my NAT router and the built-in Vista firewall.  Unless another amazing product hits the market nothing is going to replace the resident MBAM on my pc.   

I honestly don't know what to recommend when it comes to 3rd party software firewalls anymore.

I do think that the built-in FWs in XP and Vista are probably adequate for most, especially if behind a NAT router. I continue to use Comodo's free FW only because it took me so long to learn it, and because it no longer causes me no problems. (Unless you consider its constant nag to upgrade to Comodo Internet Security Suite a problem. I have no intention to do so!) But it gets matousec's highest rating.

I also cannot fail to mention that Comodo added a version of the ASK toolbar to its FW installation by default, which lost Comodo a lot of trust. And uninstalling Comodo FW is no easy thing, by what I read. (Yet another reason I am reluctant to change).

Which leaves Online Armor's free firewall. It has slipped a notch at leak-testing by matousec, but is still rated "good". And I note that Scot Finnie recommended the paid version of OA after extensive evaluation:
http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2008/03/24/the-best-firewall-software-of-2008-online-armor/

The only thing I can say with certainty is that everyone should have a software firewall enabled.

Dale:

The download site for OA Free states it is for Win2000/XP only:
http://www.tallemu.com/free-firewall-protection-software.html

Are you using the free version of OA on both XP and Vista?

If so, the biggest deterrent to me using OA Free was the need to uninstall/re-install with every upgrade, (at least when I last tried OA Free, but it has been awhile). Has OA Free changed, and allowed upgrades from within the program?

I was impressed with OA Free, when I last trialled it, for its simplicity and intuitive nature.

I have Online Armor installed on both my Vista and XP machines and it seems to work well with no problems. Now that I have it mostly trained it probably gives less alerts than the free A-squared antimalware program.

Joe,

the online armor site is confusing/ambiguous...

my understanding is that it went (32-bit) VISTA compatible effective with version 3.0.0.190 :

http://www.tallemu.com/downloads.html

http://www.download.com/Online-Armor/3000-10435_4-10426782.html

I have the 3.0.0.190 "trial" version as they call it. So far, so good.

Thanks guys.

I was fairly certain OA Free was compatible with Vista, and it's nice to see that confirmed. I have downloaded 3.0.0.190, and will not hestiatate to install it if Comodo gives me any more grief.