I did a fresh install of the latest CIS today and this is what I have to say about it. I am using comodo solutions since the original Comodo Firewall and onwards. While CIS was equally good (except a few problems with CIS 5), the latest CIS is mostly a disaster.
This was a practice with previous CIS installation procedures but it is still present in the current one. Why is it not possible to opt-out from installing GeekBuddy and Comodo Dragon? For me this is just bloatware which I do not want to install and every single time I am installing CIS on some computer it takes another 10 minutes for me to uninstall everything which I didn’t want to install.
The new UI is a step backwards. CIS 5 was very intuitive, seperated by it’s components and general settings, this one not so much. I can’t even find general settings at first glance! Task Manager? Virtual Kiosk? Who came up with this names? They are anti-descriptive.
The UI overhaul is dumbed down fancy look that wants to please the general crowd with looks but has zero functionality. Completely useless for power users. Don’t go the way of other AVs which look like space ships today.
The default settings… seriously?
-a loud wheez sound whenever a notification is shown? Really, by default?
-no way to turn off automatic first scan every reboot. Perhaps in advanced options but why would I lose 10 minutes of my life searching for that option? Perhaps I just did a clean install of OS and don’t want to run a first scan?
-the widget… whose idea was that? Because everybody really wanted 200x200px of his desktop space wasted by an AV widget. AV is supposed to be as hidden as possible and not be in your face all the time.
-Events/Baloon messages on by default. Yet another distraction which nobody wants. Once again… AV is supposed to run in the background and only alert user in case of an actual security issue. Everything else is just annoyance and disrupts user’s workflow.
The tray icon states are not good. The red state is just an X, might aswell be a Windows security alert… why not just use comodo logo with different shield color?
I pretty much only have problems with the stupid UI decisions and the default settings which are bad by my opinion.
Now to the good parts:
I like that you reduced the number of states of each component. It makes sense, it works.
It seems that scanner is much more responsive to stopping and canceling. Canceling a scan in CIS 5 may aswell freeze your whole computer for a few minutes so this seems to be improved.
If that’s the way we are going with future releases I will have a hard time using or recommending this product to anyone.
GeekBuddy and Dragon have the ability to opt-out during install via customize installer, see step 2 in the link below. CIS Premium – Installation
Future versions are going to have some alterations to the GUI due to user request, Comodo is listening.
The first scan should only run once, not every reboot.
The widget is customizable including the ability to not show.
The balloon messages, easy to disable within seconds in the user interface settings.
The icon is personal preference, maybe something for the wishlist.
The default settings have been set with security in mind with the least security alerts possible.
I agree some other settings would be friendlier if they were not enabled by default but they are very easy to disable if not required.
Also, I’d like to point out that the initial scan is only a quick scan. Once you let it complete once it will never ask you to scan again. In addition, by allowing it to complete it will also build a cache of most of the commonly used files on your computer. This should also lead to a performance increase.
If you forget to turn off the default scheduled scan, and accidentally leave your computer on all night, it will scan the whole world, including drives you don’t want to scan. ;D
I am pretty sure that Dragon and GeekBuddy are not opt-out, because I unchecked all checkboxes in installer and they still installed. I think you are mistaken here but I will double check.
This really is not an intuitive installation guidance.
The old GUI was the main reason for me to choose CIS over the others. The new layout brought me to this thread and makes me want to switch back… For the time being I’ll stick to CIS 5 on the other work stations.
Hi and welcome detlev24,
I admit along with many others that the ‘Customize Installer’ function is not greatly pronounced during installation, but IMO it very clearly mentioned in the installation instructions from the link I posted.
v6 is realy a step backwards … virtual kiosk … i also ask my self who came up with such stuff … must be the same guy who has thoght the new design looks cool :))
so well, now the firewall looks cool, its confusing, less clear then before, less functionality then before, it freezes or hang… but at least it looks cool to some one
What default scheduled scan? I see no such thing. The only option I see for scheduled scans shows that I have to create my own custom scan and then schedule it. There is no default scheduled one.
Other than that CIS 6 is a HUGE step forward for Comodo and I would never go back to a previous version. In fact I left Comodo because I got tired of the hassles involved with just simple everyday use of my computer. I would not have returned if not for v6. I can now, install, uninstall, update applications and play my games with no needless alerts ( not even firewall alerts) for safe actions of safe things. CIS is even more silent than Avast Internet Security which I had been using, with better protection, and it’s free. Great job Comodo !!
If it does then why do I not have them? They are nowhere to be seen on any one of the 3 machines I have installed CIS 6 on. This is what shows and I have not changed anything since installation.
I would have to create a scheduled scan and add it to have one. The dates shown are from me running them manually.
Where exactly would that be? I don’t see it either. Based on the online Help file, it certainly seems that you have to create any scheduled scans yourself.
Okay I found that if you click on the scans listed in the screenshot I posted and then click on the up arrow at the bottom and then choosing Edit,you can set the scheduling with a couple more clicks. The Quick scan was turned off by default and the Full Scan was set to run weekly. I turned that off too since I don’t want any schedules at all and certainly not a full one.
