Which firewall for me? Easy, lightweight and free!

Most third-parties will have so-called "pseudo-stateful" filtering (a simple IP/port check) implemented, even for state oriented protocols. To me personally, this is unacceptable.
Windows firewall lacks in many aspects (even in its implementation), but inbound filtering is where it's beating the competition.

First post, and an informative one indeed. Welcome to Wilders.
Unfortunately, this is not a poll, so... care to expand on that?

 

I saw in an earlier post by Stem saying essentially the same thing. What I would like to know is if there are any free or paid firewalls (XP, Vista & Seven compatible) that don't worsen inbound filtering. Preferably something along the lines of Kerio 2.15.

 

Thanks for the reply. So how does this worsen protection?

 

I thought it was quite obvious how pseudo-stateful filtering over state oriented protocols worsen filtering - i.e. parameters of a, say TCP, packet that could (and should) be checked are not checked, which could then lead to a possible connection abuse. It is unlikely that such an attack will happen to a home user, yes, but I do not base my security on chance.

I tend to avoid mentioning vendor names as this could lead to a discussion I haven't got the slightest interest to participate in. For example, a moment when a vendor hops in with a remark that some features are not needed for home users, is a moment I leave the discussion. He may be right, but that is not the point.
A hint: one of few "good ones" has it's support forums hosted here.

 

Thanks for the reply, I understand. Hint noted.