Outpost Firewall Pro is a program that intends to surpass the Windows firewall when it comes to protecting your system.
In the Configuration Wizard (which takes a long time to finish) you can specify whether you want rules for well-known applications and global rules to be automatically created, as well as enable Outpost Firewall Pro to automatically create rules for applications rated as Trusted and Normal by Smart Decision.
Once you have performed the mandatory system reboot, you can check out the user-friendly interface and its six main areas - My Security, Firewall, Proactive Protection, Anti-Spyware, Web Control and Event Viewer.
In the My Security section, you can view the current status of the program's other aforementioned components, disable them or configure their options.
The Firewall panel displays current active processes that are related to the network, modify their permission level, rules, Anti-Leak control and others, but you can also view which ports these processes are using, and modify their settings.
Proactive Protection informs you of the status and settings for Anti-Leak, System Guard, Application Guard, File and Folder Lock, exclusions, and removable media protection (blocked autorun files, applications and devices).
The anti-spyware module protects your computer from Trojans, worms, spyware, and any other forms of malware that can harm your system. Plus, you can perform a system scan and eliminate these threats.
Web Control allows you to assign various permission levels for websites and e-mails. Here you can view blocked active content, advertisements, unwanted sites and private data, as well as edit exclusions. But you can also monitor any process that is currently active in the online environment.
Last but not least, Event Viewer collects and analyzes system network and local activity. The level for each module can be customized according to your security preferences, but you can also assign a password to prevent Outpost Firewall Pro from being unloaded or uninstalled (in case you are sharing a computer with multiple users).
The bottom line is that Outpost Firewall Pro protects your computer in any way imaginable at this point, while using a moderate amount of system resources.
Limitations:
· 30 days trial
· Nag screen
What's New in This Release:
The following improvements have been made:
· New, more user-friendly interface
· Full compatibility with Windows 8
· Improved 64-bit OS protection
· Smaller installation package
· Improved compatibility with Microsoft Action Center
· Updated network activity presets for system processes.
The following issues have been fixed:
· The vulnerability after reverting to non-GUI operation mode (Computer Lock)
· The firewall crashing under Windows 8
· Several service and GUI crashes
· ICMP traffic on Windows 8 is now filtered correctly
· Issues with sending excess information to ImproveNet
· GUI freeze when the Event Viewer is in use
· Certain graphical element positioning errors