PC Tools Firewall Plus is retiring!

Sad news & very, very stupid move from Symantec!

First, they're killing a great app, which was starting to get even better (latest Beta scored 97% on Matousec).

Second, the competition is offering free app (Online Armor, Comodo, Outpost, ZoneAlarm,...) with the intention to convince, in the end, end users to upgrade the app.

And third, instead of merging PC Tools Firewall Plus & ThreatFire to make a top app, they're killing their best products!

For sure I won't buy their security suite, which still needs a work to be done, if I can install free combo (avast! Free & Online Armor Free, for example), which is better & lighter.

It's obvious that Symantec cares only for annual finance report...

Sad but true!

P.S.:
For sure I won't buy security suite.

 

For the moment, Symantec RETIRES PC Tools Products.
In a while, Symantec will RETIRE the Entire PC Tools Company!

 

News from the PC Tools office which should clear up why they released a beta last night


Just be to clear, we are still releasing the final version 7 of the FW. However, there will be no further developments in regards to the standalone Firewall. You can still continue to use the Firewall for as long as you like and post on this forum. However, should you wish to upgrade in future, you will need to install PC Tools Internet Security.

 

Thanks, Ibrad! I wonder just how dedicated they'll be to this final version?

 

hmm, so theyre still going to develop it until its good enuff to be released as v7 final, well maybe there still reason to use this firewall to me.

 

What I can not understand is the unprofessional way that they announced the discontinuation PC Tools Firewall Plus.
They must have known about this decision for awhile, but they don't even give a simple warning. I can remember in the past where other products were discontinued like Tiny Firewall, Sygate, BlackICE, Ewido Anti-Spyware, Giant Anti-Spyware, etc.

And all of them gave users a notice on their homepages and even sent out news letters to users emails. Some of these discontinued products gave users 6 months notices.

I just got my News Letter from PC Tools last month about the latest threats and info on sales of their products like Spyware Doctor, Registry Mechanic, PC Tools Internet Security, etc. Why couldn't they notify us about the discontinuation PC Tools Firewall Plus??

Instead at the last moment, remove PC Tools Firewall from their website with with stupid bah, bah, message "committed to providing our customers with effective security software that best meets their needs and improves their digital lives" how would they know what are needs are?? If they listen to their users they would know that they do NOT want PC Tools Internet Security. The firewall was their best product to date now they are going to inter-grade it into a paid bloat suite that nobody in their right mind would want.

If I had to count the number of times that I had to repair Spyware Doctor because of errors, I would run out of fingers and toes.
And the Security Suite is even worse, I used it a few times and simply had to uninstall it because of draining my system's resources and was also full of bugs.

PC Tools Firewall was very stable and I only experienced very little issues with it, of coarse no firewall with HIPS is perfect.

So if someone doesn't want to use PC Tools or Symantec products even again, then that is their rightful choice.

Like I said, I'm tired of Symantec crapping on their users and their customer support is like non-existence, so why would I want to use any of their products??

Thanks.

 

@ littlebits - I agree with your comments. I have been using Pc Tools firewall for about 12 months now and thought it was strange it had not been updated since. By luck? I got hold of Emsisoft 12 month licence Antimalware 5,and thought I would give Online Armor free firewall a go. All work well together.

One reason was PC Tools has dropped in Matousec's ratings(poor) as against OA FREE FIREWALL (excellent). Guess I will be sticking with this firewall from now.

Well recommended for guys looking for a free alternative.

And yes Pc Tools Internet Security is Bloatware! I know from personal experience. No more IS Suites for me.

 

It is great news but interesting that yesterday they took off page where you can download PC Tools Firewall with message that they are retiring:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...irewall/ pc toosl firewall&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk

Old page is now back and the fact that they decided to release version 7 is good news.

I'm happy user of PCTF 6.0.0.88 and i'm gonna to continue to use it.

 

My thoughts too! Except that I've disabled the smart update! I don't want them disabling my firewall by remote control (unlikely)

 

Pffft! Now like what MakePB said, it seems to be "unretired" again.

 

No longer retiring!!??

Indeed the product page has been re-instated and V6 continues to be available for download plus the encouraging statement re beta 3 of v7.

Seems that the global reaction to this decision has caused management to either rethink, or just postpone the decision and handle it differently in terms of communication and migration options.

Either way, PCT / Symantec will make a bad business decision by this. PCT should be offering a selection of tools to more discerning users. OK, even charge a little for them if necessary. But they also act as a free testing ground for new ideas. Take a look at Avast who continue to offer a free product and have 20% of the market, and have recently attracted investment in the company of 100 million euros or bucks!

If some one wanted a full suite then they may be tempted to migrate to NIS if they offered me a good price / discount, but just to give me a link to their own inadequate PCT-IS product simply is a p!$$ poor tactic.

On my personal PC i use both FW+ and Threatfire and find them to be very capable and easy to use. I just hope they continue these products. I for one will not convert to NIS or PCTIS since I have had bad experiences of both. Moreover I prefer a multi-layered and multi-vendor approach for my security, to enhance security.

 

Rest in peace PC Tools FW ...

 

not really since someone else killed it and it did not die naturally

 

Symantec is the killer

 

Out of death comes life......PRIVATE FIREWALL..........ta da.....

 

I am not so sure that you should be blaming Symantic for this. PCT seems to be continuuing the Internet Security Suite. So unless they go & buy another companies Fw they will need this one. Most likely they were making no money since no one wanted Spyware Doctor. They wanted the Firewall. So I can understrand why this product was not a priority. Remember they still had to develop it & service it in their forums. Last posting in the forums seems to indicate that the Firewalls future is now being reconsidered. Its back up for download.

 

You might be right, Spyware Doctor used to be their most popular product but then as AV's started to add spyware detection, Spyware Doctor starter to fade away. They tired to revive it by adding their AV module to it, then Threatfire but all that did it bloat to the point that it was a huge resource hog. Besides that their AV didn't offer that good of detection. Then they added their best product "PC Tools Firewall Plus" to it to make a bloated security suite.

If they wanted to have a paid product that makes profit, they should combine PC Tools Firewall with Threatfire together in one product.
Leave out Spyware Doctor and their AV because users don't want it.

Call it "PC Tools Firewall Plus PRO" for a reasonable price it would sale much better than their security suite.

Thanks.

 

That might be really a good combination. Still, you can achieve that yourself. A completely new product would likely be warranted who knows if PCT would want to do that. They seem to be challenged enough by the Firewall & Threatfire individually. I feel that this Firewalls place was with people who wanted a simple Firewall only. If you turned off ESV that is what you had. A very similar free version of Look N Stop that offered outgoing & incoming control & not much else. As far as Symantic is concerned I don't think they really want to Ax this company. If they did they would have done it much sooner than this.

 

Hi Guys,

We have heard your feedback and we are currently discussing the best way to move forward with this. We fully intend to keep investing in firewall technology and in behavioral protection (Threatfire). We are discussing the best way to deliver these technologies to our users. Will keep you posted once I receive an update. Appreciate all the feedback you guys have provided.

For PCTFW v7 final release, we are still ironing out a few bugs found from the beta and plan for a final release hopefully within the next few days.

 

Please get rid of that god-awful Luna theme.

 

That's great news AChen, thanks for the update!

 

"AChen"

"We have decided to continue supporting the Firewall"

http://www.pctools.com/forum/showpost.php?p=234075&postcount=55


Good News... i will try this firewall when final version released

 

GREAT news indeed! perhaps new Symantec style? If they keep it free... too optimistic huh?

 

wooho its good they're continuing it

 

Only just found this thread!

Re: PC Tools Firewall Plus
For quite a while now... Thought something was going on
1st | Never did update to the latest version of v6.
Coz there seemed to be lots of problems with it - & - PCT just didn't seem interested in getting them Fixed.
2nd | The lack of updates during the last 12 months.
Started to make me wonder if something bad was going to happen

Love My PCTFWP
I'll certainly be keeping the Download of the version I'm using now safe.
&...
If they do finish v7 .. I'll also be sticking a download of that in my Dropbox for future use


Such... Confusion & Sadness

Zeena