Hi. It's been a while since I said much about Outpost here and various people are having problems with various firewalls, so I would like to give a little update. I say this because of posts on this board and many others. At this point in time Outpost too will cause some problems for some people, but most can be resolved. These issues are know to Agnitum and most issues have been dealt with in version 2, including fixing all known leaks. I am really looking forward to version 2 beta and it has been a long time coming, much like TDS 4. I have been reluctant to really push for people trying Outpost until version 2 is released, even though it will be a free upgrade. Having said that, I would like to say, Outpost free is still an excellent choice for people on a stand alone computer. Outpost pro will work fine for most people on small lans that do not require ICS on Win2k SP2 and SP3, and XP. There is even a workaround for that if necessary. I do not say Outpost is the best possible choice for everybody, no one firewall is. It is, however, still a firewall that should be checked out by everyone that is not happy with the firewall they currently use. Outpost version 2 will pass all known leak tests, have a new logging system, have stateful packet inspection as an option, will fully support ICS, and fix most problems that people on XP have experienced, plus a lot more. Outpost provides excellent support through emails to tech support, but mostly through the Outpost forum.
Hi root, you seem to know most about Outpost so I'll ask my questions here. Can you expand on the ad-blocking features. Will it block banners in the actual site or just pop-up windows? Can you add blocking to items not blocked by Outpost? I currently use the hosts file in windows with edexter for ad blocking. At times it can lag my web browser as it gets confused I think. Another quick one, outpost does watch outbound traffic too right? Thx
Hi Hummer. Outpost has excellent ad blocking by string and by image size. You can add all you want to it and most people use Eric Howes AGNIS list found here. http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/resource.htm#Outpost It has a trashcan drag and drop feature too. And yes, it blocks banners. And of course Outpost controls outbound traffic and uses the MD5 checksum method for verification. Version 2 to be released hopefully next week to beta testers will have fixed all leaks, have a new logging system, have stateful packet inspection, fully support XP ICS, and many more improvements. Try it, you'll like it. Any problems, see me at the Outpost forum.
very cool! I might just have to skip the free version as a trial and go directly pro. I plan on using Outpost Pro with TDS and NOD32, sound like a compatible combo? One more thing, I believe you mentioned it below, but if I bought version 1 tommorow I get version 2 at no cost right? Thanks for your time! looks like I can get a 25 day trial version of Pro itself? I thought I would have to try the regular outpost as my trial.. hmm
Free updates for a year with Outpost Pro and Yes a trial version since Pro is somewhat different that free. Some of that is going to change with version two, but I don't know how much. Pro is worth the money for the added features and ability to do more things. I will keep people informed of the changes as soon as I get them.
Well I've become torn between Outpost Pro and Sygate Pro - I ditched Norton Personal Firewall (never any issues with it) due to it's sheer bloatware size and I've spent weeks watching various forums trying to decide which new firewalls to try... I will never touch ZA due to the instabilty it left my WinXP with a year ago - the only time I have ever had an unstable machine due to a piece of software! I am a programmer with a lot of Windows expertise and ZA seems to cause way too many problems for way too many users. I have been running Sygate Pro for a week now and I love it, it is very easy to use yet tells you a lot of information and has some nice advanced features/rules should you need them. Last night I decided to try Outpost Pro before making my purchasing decision on Sygate - I was impressed with the installation and I like all the extra content filtering features and the lower resource usage as well. It was a very close decision but I personally find the rule configuration on Outpost that bit more time consuming and complex - trying to configure Messenger with all it's different ports was fun So Sygate won (just!) I just prefer the interface and the info it gives you and if you go to www.adsubtract.com you can get it for $29 dollars instead of the usual $39, so it was 10 cheaper than Outpost as well. Just my personal experience... I will watch for Outpost 2 with interest though! Fedorov.
Hey, at least you made an informed decision. Little things sometimes makes all the difference in the world. I have hopes that Outpost 2 is going to be a vast improvement in some areas such as logging and ICS support. Hope you take the time to check it out when it becomes available. We'll see.
Well Root, I'm using Outpost again... there was just something about it that I liked, not sure what it was!!! Maybe it's all the nice ad-blocking and content filtering that is built-in... in combination with the latest beta2 of NetCaptor to stop all popups it is perfect - try NetCaptor!!! Fedorov.
Ahh. Another wanderer returns. NetCaptor is nice. I used to use it exclusively. I just love Opera though and can't wait to see Opera 7. I finally started using Operas features to control cookies instead of Outpost, and it is working great.
Is it just me or is my machine/internet running a bit quicker since moving to Outpost?? I know Norton was bloatware, but Sygate was good on resources yet my feeling is that things are running even quicker. Played my usual Medal of Honor last night and it seemed smoother than ever!!! Fedorov.
Root, how does Agnitum run their Beta program? Is it a restricted private program like Diamond or will it be open to any owner of Outpost Pro? Regards Tim
Hi Tim, you can apply here. http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/betatest.html PM me if you want me to put in a word for you. I'll need the name you used in the application.
Hi Root, what did you think about my speed comments above? Is it just me Being a programmer I get a good feel for how things run and I'm convinced my machine and certainly the games are running that bit better I'm in the Beta2 programme btw, waiting to see what goodies come along! Fedorov.
Hi Fedorov999, I would expect to see some increase in surfing speed, because Outpost blocks a lot of ads and banners, if you have it set up to do that. Also the DNS cache really works to speed surfing up. As for the games, I don't know?
Well Root, as you may have seen on the dslreports security forums I'm back to my faithful Sygate Pro after getting a bit of instability from Outpost. I liked Outpost a lot and can't wait for the V2 beta testing to begin but Sygate is winning on stability so can't argue with that. Fedorov.
Hi root! I assume you will be pleased that Outpost Free is The Number 1 Firewall Choice of a firewall review by the Dutch magazine "PCM Personal Computer Magazine" of october 2002. In that test: - Sygate Personal Firewall - Kerio Personal Firewall - Tiny Personal Firwall - Outpost - ZoneAlarm - Windows XP I fully agree with the results of this test, have tried all mentioned firewalls and it is my opinion Outpost is indeed the best.
Thanks Smokey. And version 2 hasn't even hit beta yet. Even with its shortcomings, Outpost has picked up a large very loyal following. If I could just get those Russians to put the Vodka down long enough to finish version 2 now. Fedorov999, I don't remember getting a chance to help you with any stability problems. Very few people complain about Outpost being unstable, so I'm curious what problems you were having. If you posted at the Outpost forum, then I must have forgot. I have over 2000 posts there and my memory is getting shorter.
Hi root! I stay by Outpost, is the first firewall who is operating in a way I really like, I have tried evry possible firewall on the market, and can only have one conclusion: there is no firewall who is perfect, but Outpost is simply the best. No problems with Outpost at all except the popup-filter, who is not doing a very good job, but like I have said, no firewall is perfect, and when I Outpost compare to other firewalls I think I can live with the popup-problems.
Hi Root, I didn't/couldn't post anything after my Outpost crash cos it happened right in the middle of me doing a demo to a customer remotely so I literally uninstalled it immediately to avoid anymore. Sygate Pro hasn't given me one problem, if it did it would be removed as well Fedorov.
Hey controler, I wish! Smokey, come over to the Outpost forum, and we'll try to help with the popup stopper. Mine works pretty well.http://www.agnitum.com/forum/ Fedorov999, sorry it happened like that. Pretty unusual really, but when version 2 comes out, be sure and give us a try again. Sygates a good firewall and kerio and maybe a few more. Lots of competition and thats a good thing.
