I would like to know if there really is a free edition of Outpost. My reason for asking this question is that about a month ago I went onto the Agnitum website and downloaded the free edition of Outpost, in which I later installed and tried on one of my PC's. Now after the installation (which was successfull) I went to update now, to update the FW to the latest version, signature etc and I got a msg telling me that there was a newer version available, which I than decided to install and update, thinking that this was the latest free edition. Funny how after a reboot of the PC, I discovered that my Outpost free edition had decided to update itself to Outpost Pro edition which is a paid version and giving me 30 day trial period. So why does Agnitum advertise a product on its website that is completely outdated and doesnt work?
The free version of Outpost is overdue for update and many people have pointed this out to Agnitum. However, like most other companies, Agnitum gives more priority to products that generate revenue which is where Outpost Pro comes in. The update message you received should have made it clear that it was for a trial version of Outpost Pro - if it did not then you should contact Agnitum directly. If you wish to revert back to the free version then you will need to uninstall/reinstall and either redo your configuration or load a backup copy - since Outpost Free has the tendency to wipe its configuration if it crashes, you should keep a regularly updated backup copy in any case. Outpost Free does work and is quite suitable for some situations while providing a good sample of Outpost Pro (since the two share a similar interface, although the underlying code is quite different). However there are better free firewalls about so if you are only looking at free products you may wish to trial Kerio (though that has been discontinued), ZoneAlarm, NetVeda or Jetico.