Comodo Firewall Pro is one of the most impressive firewalls I’ve ever seen. However, its user interface is designed quite poorly, in my opinion.
First of all, one big problem that I’ve always been uncomfortable, is the lack of the ability to run the wizard again. I’m lucky that I’m a power user and that I enjoy looking through help files and finding out how every option works. However, Comodo Firewall Pro’s wizard is not something that can help me. These are the reasons:
1.) It does not have the same name for the features that I am enabling and does not tell me where I can change these options after the wizard. For example, updating via Comodo Safelists option in the wizard, is known as “Train with Safe Mode” inside the firewall options, if I’m not mistakened. I understand that Comodo’s business solution is to data mine for user security issues, so that is the reason why “Automatically submit file to queue” is checked. At least a “you can change this later inside blah blah options panel” notice inside the wizard would be helpful. But no, once I click “Let Comodo do everything for me”, I no longer know what I need to do to fully disable the options that it automatically made for me, if I even can. This is the same with other wizard options too.
2.) It took me a while to figure out that the new Program Controls area is the Network security policies in the Advanced section. If my parents installed this and accidentally blocked something, they wouldn’t dream of every being able to use that piece of software again, unless I help them unblock it in the so called “advanced” area. In this part, Zone Alarm wins with its intuitive user interface.
For the lazy:
1.) I need to be able to run the wizard again in a later time. I need to be able to know exactly what options are being set by the wizard, so I can change them manually in the future.
2.) There needs to be a Program Controls area that is more friendly.
Overall, Comodo Firewall Pro is an excellent piece of software. While I know that its main deal is to collect data about what users struggle with regarding security, it’s nevertheless one of the best Firewalls ever made. You have gained a loyal user.
This V3 is the pits.
First, the user interface which doesn’t conform to one’s Windows theme/preference settings is quite distracting.
But, beyond that, it just doesn’t make sense is all sorts of ways.
Lets say I want to view a log file . Well, it’s not called a log file. So, I’ll never find it. Is this an advanced or common function? Oh, it’s a commond task - Firewall EVENTS. But, this window is ALWAYS ON TOP - so I can’t leave it and do other things. And, it’s got no options whatsoever - If I want to sort on a column, doesn’t do anything. If I want to change th order of the columns - sorry. I can re-size a column, but if I close the log, it won’t remember my re-size. Oh, but if I click on “More…” The event viewer now becomes a LOG, with more options, but still all of the limitations before - no sorting, no remembering, the only thing I can do that I couldn’t before is move a column (say make date the first one), but again, nothing I do is remembered.
The nitty gritty of blocking things is unintuitive. OK - I’ve got JetAudio and I DO NOT WANT IT TO ACCESS THE INTERNET. Period. Oh, but the firewall lets it automatically. Oh, to change this is an “Advanced” task - change Firewall Behavior Settings to a Custom mode (the only other mode that would work is Block everything - surely that shouldn’t be so hard to get to if I want to lock down the computer from the Internet… but has nothing to do with normal “Advanced” tasks) - and then go to the “Network Security Policy” - another stupid always on top window - that displays things in the wierdest most unfriendly order I’ve seen - no names of programs - only the path and executable name; how will one ever find anything is this jumbled up list once the firewall has been used for a while? and, no way to tell what the “custom” policy is from here without EDITing it to see what it is.
This is just plain stupid.
STUPID STUPID STUPID.
I HATE THIS USER INTERFACE - obviously the developers of this application think way different than I do - so I doubt this will ever become user-friendly.
This is just the tip of the iceberg…
I agree with some of the things the topic starter said. This version has some names that I don’t like, and some tasks have been put in hard to get places.
I would also have preferred log instead of events. Everyone knows what a log is, why change it? Why doesn’t it open up the “more” option directly? One unnecessary step in my opinion.
When I had installed it I looked for the application monitor… a long time… ok it’s now hidden in advanced/network polices… I would really have preferred a quicker way to get to it… the name isn’t intuitive either…
There are more…