CastleCops :: View topic - New version of Sunbelt Personal Firewall now in public beta

New version of Sunbelt Personal Firewall now in public beta

CastleCops -> Sunbelt KerioPF

Author: Mikew2007, Location: USA

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:09 pm Post subject: New version of Sunbelt Personal Firewall now in public beta

New version of Sunbelt Personal Firewall now in public beta
Sunbelt Personal Firewall 4.6.1751 (known previously as the Kerio Personal Firewall) is now available for download. This version supports Vista and also has a number of under-the-hood improvements.
The download and more information is available from our beta forum here: http://beta.sunbelt-software.com

Author: Dwarden, Location: Czech_Republic

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 9:08 am Post subject:

nice but too late for me as I got rid of SPF already...

good luck with it ... maybe if test reports turns ok then i return

Author: Graham1,

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 7:18 am Post subject:

Good to see that a Vista compatible version has finally arrived Smile

. Shame it has taken this long though Crying or Very sad

Author: MasterTB, Location: Argentina

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 11:10 am Post subject:

As It has been said before .... Too Little, Tool Late.

Author: SlowArrow,

Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 7:13 pm Post subject:

Ollé guys, I'll try it Smile

Author: Graham1,

Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 8:39 pm Post subject:

SlowArrow wrote:

Ollé guys, I'll try it Smile

Hi SlowArrow

How did you get on with the new beta? Any major changes?

Smile

Author: mdj, Location: Denmark

Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 8:07 am Post subject:

I guess it is about time I write something here too...
My history in short: I started out using Tiny Personal Firewall v.2, and the configuration interface of that program, and the subsequent versions of the Kerio and Sunbelt firewalls remains to be matched by any other (free) firewall program, so I would really like to continue to use this firewall. HOWEVER, on my server at home, I am STILL using Tiny! When I first upgraded to Kerio v.2, it blue screened about once per 24 hour - not acceptable on a server in particular. so I went back to Tiny, and I have installed all new versions of Kerio ever since on my workstations, to be able to determine when a version of Kerio could "pass the test" and get installed on my server. BUT, practially every version of Kerio ever since would show me a blue screen or two within the first 24 hours of installation, and despite being burned by the very first version of Kerio, I tried once more to put an early Kerio v.4 on my server. Big mistake... So, I am still scanning the Sunbelt Kerio firewall for a satisfactorily version, I have tried other firewalls, but have not been satisfied with any - and then I even had further problems with Kerio, when trying to revert to Kerio on a laptop I had tested Comodo on. Kerio has kept giving me trouble in the Filter List interface (the "heart" of Kerio, and the reason I want to use it), I have had occassional blue screens or freezes, I have even had HTTP traffic being messed up (http headers missing and/or moved to different connections(!), all blowing away when the firewall was stopped, so no doubt who was to blame), problems when starting, problems when shutting down, I even tried once to report an error to Sunbelt, offering to hand over configuration files and assist in debugging, just to receive the answer that if I hadn't paid, I wasn't in title to support! Hey, I didn't want support, I wanted to help fix a bug that most probably bothered paying customers as well... Still, I had gotten used to Kerio on my workstations, and it wasn't THAT bad, and the flexibility of the interface... Wow. But I kept Tiny on my server where stability was so important, although Tiny also have a few bugs, and not quite as good an interface. The bugs in Kerio where far more serious.

So, I thought I would wait for an official release from Sunbelt, but I changed my mind and installed the new Beta on some of my workstations, and I must say, I have come a *lot* closer to finally skipping tiny on my server.

- No blue screens or freezes so far.
- The http mess-up error is no longer reproducable.
- No quirks in the filter list interface yet.
- Improved prompting - when defining a new filter rule, now it is actually applied to the entire queue of waiting prompts, so I don't have to answer the same question several times, even if I define a rule on the first prompt.

A few things still remain:
- I have seen prompts for incoming UDP to Outlook where the receiving port number was not shown in the prompt.
- The jury is still out on the new feature of automatically denying after 20 seconds, if I don't do anything, but I think it will be a "Not Guilty".
- The order of combined ip address and port number conditions shown in the filter list is still odd, but that is a minor cosmetic thing.
- I don't yet understand the new architecture of 3 processes, but I guess it is just a cleanup of the old one.

I have not tried to export/import configurations yet, so I don't know if there are still problems there, and when the time comes, I also have a few wishes for the future, but all in all, the new beta has been a very positive experience. I will keep it under observation for some time yet, I still haven't touched everything, and I don't think I will install the beta on my server in any case, but it is starting to look like Tiny is out of a job, when the official release comes. It took Sunbelt a while, but in my oppinion, it was worth waiting for.

I will keep you posted, if (when!) I have more to comment on this beta.

Author: SlowArrow,

Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 9:44 am Post subject:

Graham1 wrote:

How did you get on with the new beta? Any major changes? Smile

I think, there are smaller issues around the installation and even in the working of the firewall, but this is why the actual version is just a beta.

I see at least one big improvement in the handling of the rules, however I had no time to check it carefully. The week after the next I'll work on that machine I could install the program, and probably I may check it more detailed.

I'll give it a chance Very Happy

Author: User001,

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 2:10 pm Post subject: Update

Sunbelt Software is pleased to announce that SPF 4.6.1820 is now available for download:

http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/rd/?id=080602BL-SPF_BETA5

Changes in this build include:

4.6.1820.0 - Add Beta warning text on InstallWelcome dialog

4.6.1819.0 - Installation error when the installed sbfwim.sys driver is read only

4.6.1817.0 - Commented a call to config.sendCfgToDriver() when a UI disconnects. Inside this call a synchronized method was called and the lock was already hold in the same thread, thus causing a deadlock in the service.

4.6.1816.0 - Add .cat file to installer so security alert no longer is shown

4.6.1813.0 - Increased font size in tabs texts.
Display protocol number and name in Network alerts.

4.6.1810 - Correctly update "Apply" button when the user saves a change in "Advanced Packet Filter" and "Behavior Blocking" dialogs.
Fixed a bug that prevented to display the registration dialog from the context menu of the systray icon.
Added a capability to tab through the items in a dialog (the tab sequence was broken due to the controls used).
Fix problem with Simple vs. Advanced setting detected on Upgrade.

4.6.1807 - New set of INF files. These files pass the signability test of WLK.
Copy of miniport INF file manually.
Roll back: the change made to delete remote files when the upload was cancelled was causing completed uploads to get corrupted.

CastleCops -> Sunbelt KerioPF

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