I feel it as my duty to tell you that I find this new (fantastic) firewall too difficult for people like me (layman) … After trying out this new version (testing is not for me because I lack the knowhow) I think that there are too many screens, too many alerts, and too many settings. Believe me when I say that it’s not my intention to insult anybody : this his just how I experienced this new app… The developers of this new firewall had obviously one goal : to make a better firewall than anybody else did before them and they succeeded but … they didn’t realize that the mainstream user can’t coop with all these technical stuff. So please take this remark in consideration and hopefully you can come up with an user friendlier version than this one… I can’t believe that this firewall is only intended for people who have a thorough knowledge of how a firewall works. :-\
I’m starting to feel the same way…i’m sorry to say. My biggest bug bear is the constant pop ups which is the result of the firewall being unable to remember your answers. (:SAD)
The HIPS functionaly may still not be for those who aren’t familiar with the process going on. What about a “beginner-friendly” or somethin’ like that setting to aid users understand the basics of the security software?
it’s the closest thing i’ve used to giving me personally what I need which is
internet access for me and my second pc but still giving me a ‘full stealth’ result.
the downside for me is I’m a complete novice as I’m sure lots of us are with firewalls
and adding additional rules to suit our systems.
I do hope however that I will eventually get to use this great piece of software successfully.
I think personally Microsoft should offer free classes on basic networking and security for each customer. The net was never designed for mass consumers floating aimlessly around cyber space. I struggled to figure out BASIC (Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) when I was in high school many years before we had the net. I played with a Commodore 64 and made a stick figure shooting hoops with BASIC. It was one of our assignments. (:KWL)
I’m glad that nobody feels offended with my remarks and there is a positive feedback on this. I am staying (for now) with CFP 2.4 because it’s very ergonomic and easy to understand (even for me!). To give an example why I stay with the “old” version. Some progs try to connect to internet and then I am warned by an alert : with the new version I am not warned at all! I am convinced that this can be arranged but … probably after a search thrue all these different screens and settings… :-
I think it’s a very good suggestion to install some sort of “beginner-friendly” setting which pretty much covers the basic protection needed by 90% of all the firewall users.
:BNC
Although I use CFP, I wouldn’t put it on a PC for the average user. I’ll just tolerate the alerts etc. (so long as the answers are remembered), but for most people…!
The other side of this is that eventually one just clicks ‘OK’; there isn’t sufficient information re. the alert and the only choice is to stop browsing.
Some alerts say that xxx app. is using Opera (even after closing xxx) and closing Opera then reopening is the only other choice.
I still use ZA for neighbours’ PCs, set it up for the obvious apps. and never have any queries. Yes, we do need a similar initial configuration such as this if CFP is to gain users.
CPF 3 indeed is a very advanced piece of software. I think most people, independent of skills, agree that it may be too much for the average user. That’s why the white list technology is so important. Give the user an option “set and forget”, then (s)he’ll have as good protection as a techie, but without having to configure the firewall and answering a lot of questions.
I’ve used the beta too little to know whether one can configure it this way. If one can - great! then it shouldn’t be much of a problem for unexperienced users (the large mass). If not, it would be an important feature to have.
To be honest : no didn’t but … if I do that I have more or less the same app than I have now (CFP 2.4)… so I’m not inclined to do so. But thx anyway for the tip !!
I like the Defense+ part very much , I wish it can control more and more , and to be better and better . Some people maybe cann’t adapt it , I think they can set it “Allow All” , or after we install the CFP , the Defense+ is just “Allow All” , or when we install , we can choose the parties we want , and don’t install other parties .
local profiling doesn’t seem to stop all popups, Melih, for some reason. I did a full profile on the last one, and imported that to this one; still got a lot of alerts.
You can, however, train Defense +. By default it is set to “Learn Safe Only” - this reduces the alerts, but there are still a lot at present. If you are confident that your system is clean (ie, no viruses), simply set it to “Learn All” for a limited time, while you run your regular applications. Then switch back to Learn Safe Only.
Yeah, i did carry out the local profiling but i still get a load of pop ups. Why, when you tick the remember my answer box? do you get the same pop up appearing again and again, it’s as if the firewall is suffering with a very bad case of Altzheimers disease.
I also downloaded the latest Beta version, but as a real “layman” I started getting a little worried about all the pop ups. It also would not let me get on certain sites, telling me “the connection to the server was reset while the page was loading”. I did not know how to fix this, so I uninstalled and put back the old version. I would like to see a “novice” setting that would give me the protection I need without having to have a masters in computer lingo!
I do appreciate all that the firewall developers have done so far and hope for a user friendly final version. :BNC