ZoneAlarm for Windows Vista Released

Not to hijack this thread, but the statement in the above link:

is incorrect, as Grisoft makes use of WFP and released its Vista version before Zone Labs did.

Anyway, its nice to see a Vista version of ZA! Hope the 64-bit support comes soon....

 

ZA does not support any 64bit OS nor is planning to support one in the near future....

Cheers,
Fax

 

Maybe Grisoft is not a major company in the eyes of Checkpoint.

But its good that they got their vista-compatible firewall out (after much pestering from ZA customers) before the other major firewall vendors: Agntum Outpost and Sunbelt Kerio . Hopefully it should not have too many bugs given probably the longest beta in ZA history.

 

Get the New ZA Vista files here..
http://download.zonealarm.com/bin/promotions/vista/index5.html

 

Does this mean there will never be a version of ZA 7.x for 64-bit operating systems?

 

Doesn't sound right to me. Vista users are now the potential future for all software manufacturers. Glad I'm on 32bit none the less. Only had ZA f/w for a day now, but so far I'm very pleased with it. Keeps reminding me of good old sygate 5.5.

 

And before someone chews my head off about the sygate 5.5 comparison. I wasn't speaking on a technical level, just referring to its ease of use, inbound/outbound indicator and it's program permission control.

 

There are NO plans for developing one right now... to say never its a bit too much since VISTA will be the last MS 32bit compatible OS...
So, before of later ZA will need to move to 64bit.

Fax

 

I cant seem to find anywhere much thats discussing this new firewall. I realise its very new (and only compatible 32 bit) and so time is needed to truly know whether its good or not. But I thought some puter buff would have picked the bones outta it and written up by now. It seems a far more reassuring firewall to me, but only because I'm able to see it hard at work.. Not to say its any better than Vista's firewall on that strength. What ye reckon?

 

I guess most here will jump up reporting that ZA free version is very weak on leaktests.... since OSfirewall is available only for the retail version. For the rest it works just fine.

Many user that don't like bloated software will be happy with current ZA Suite since it a very much slimmed down version of ZASS for XP. WIth KAV AV/AS + ZA internally developed AS + triple defence firewall and spam filter... thats it...

Well, future builds will re-introduce the missing features... but for now... its like this.

Cheers,
Fax

 

I would say a 64-bit version will appear when OEM's start shipping a majority of their systems with 64-bit Vista. Considering Microsoft's objective of shortening the life of its operating systems, this might not happen until Vista's replacement comes along.

Remember, 64 bit OS does not really help until more than 4 gigs of memory are installed. Most systems still ship with only 1 gig, 2 gigs for high end.

 

For those using it... How is the free version of ZA for Vista? How's internet performance, memory / processor utilization, etc.?

 

I used a program called FIREWALL LEAKAGE TESTER V1.2 and it claims that my firewall (ZA free) is aggressive and working properly, as no connections were established after me denying it access. Not sure how much resources its consuming, but it hasn't hindered my computer performance (startup, internet and general) at all, really, that I notice.

 

I am using ZASS for VISTA so memory usage may be different... two main executable in ZAfree (vsmon and zclient)

Vsmon.exe 28,220 K
Zclient 4,980 K

Cheers,
Fax

 

I decided to give it a try.

The good:
- Its fast on my machine, not interrupting internet speed at all it seems.
- Its LIGHT, as in old-school ZA light. vsmon uses 9MB, and zlclient 7MB.
- Setup is easy, as it always was

The bad:
- Given ZA is using the new APIs for Vista, I expected a little more control from the application. However, I was shocked to find it actually offers LESS than the built-in Vista Firewall (w/ Advanced Security). services.exe and svchost.exe are granted full rights to the internet? Why can't it restrict by service like the built-in fw can? Isn't this a pretty big security hole, or am I missing something?
- The installer crashed following install (whew). Didn't cause any problems, but still not the best thing.

Its working fine, but I really got used to the control the built-in firewall gave me. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet!

 

Ooops, I have just answered you on the ZA forum...
I guess developers set OS permission based on maximum compatibility rather than enforcing maximum restrictions.

But, if you know what you are doing, you can restrict at your will any OS service in program control.

Cheers,
Fax

 

Well, while I think the folks here are incredibly knowledgeable, I figured it made sense to post to the product's board as well...

Can you tell me where to set this? I remember ZA Pro having some configuration options, but ZA Free (which is all you can get for Vista right now; Even the ZASS product doesnt have the OSFirewall yet) doesn't appear to have any options.

I like having an interface again (and something that's checking connections), but I'd hate to have to do it at the expense of security. Letting svchost connect at will isn't the best, I don't think.

 

Hi!

ZASS 7 for VISTA has full OSfirewall in place.... may be you mixing up with KIS that have limited implementation of PDM in VISTA?

To change permission you go to your program control tab --> programs --> scroll down --> find your application and modify access...

Host Process for Windows Service (svchost)
Service and control app. (services.exe)

By default, services.exe has only server permission to the trusted zone while svchost in VISTA has been given server permission also to the internet (don't know why!)

Cheers,
Fax

 

I know ZASS for XP has it, I didnt think the Vista version did yet: http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/catalog/products/vista.jsp'

From that page:

Which makes sense; If they had the OSFirewall, they'd be selling the ZA Pro version already.

As for the changes to the svchost and services apps, I know you can change them at that high level; What the firewall functionality permits in Vista is for you to open only the ports you want for these applications, as well as only for specific services (i.e., I can permit svchost.exe to run on the internet for Windows Update, while blocking it for any other service if I chose to). With ZA (for now), it seems to be an all or nothing thing.

 

Hi!
I can ensure you that ZASS/ZAAV ships with OSfirewall... you can check in product description.... one section is for VISTA and one for XP...

Yes, ZAfree has always been like this... you have no control on specific ports only access to trusted/internet or server trusted/internet.

Cheers,
Fax

 

I didn't realize ZoneAlarm was released for Windows Vista yet. I've been going since March with no firewall besides the standard Windows Vista one.

SLOWLY downloading now.

 

Just got an email from Zonelabs today. In it was the news that ZA Pro for Vista was coming shortly.

Not sure what they mean by shortly but its good news that its on the way. Might not be everyones first choice but it adds to the very limited options for Vista.

 

Thank you!T like she

 

I got curious to see what it was like on Vista, The major difference I noticed is the Instant Messenger thing is missing,and its no different to ZoneAlarm Pro Firewall 6.5, only they still have the audacity to call it a security suite The next thing I noticed is the Abominally Slow Bootup Speed remains with all ZoneAlarm products, including this one, it took 4 and half minutes for my desktop to load after the welcome screen dissapeared. In short this product was, and still remains ****! and thats a mild description