Snakes. Why did it have to snakes.

[Jon_T]

In relation to OA's firewall -- Rules. Why did it have to be rules.

Just "curious". Given the prime focus of Tall Emu is to make OA easy to use, and OA's "Programs" is application based. Why was not OA's firewall application based like ZA instead of rules.

IMHO ZA one of the easiest firewalls to understand/use. Been using ZA since 2.0 and have staid with ZA Pro 5.5 since I detest all the non-firewall features bloat in the ZA Pro 6.x and 7.x versions. I purchased a new system and have been looking for a new software firewall. I was just about to give Sunbelt Personal Firewall a trial, since it uses basically the same application setup as ZA, until I read the Online Armor Free topic at Wilders Security Forums. I was truly impressed with Mike Nash's time/efforts in to replies to the posts.

It's really great all that OA does when used in Standard Mode, but there are times being in full auto mode is not the best. There are some apps/utilities I want to be "Trusted" only to run, but not access the internet ("phone home").

In OA's current state (i.e., very limited Help & No User Guide) OA it great for:
• The (novice) PC user who's OK with letting OA make all the decisions for them.
• Advance users that know how to use/make firewall rules. (Along with all the other Advance Firewall Mode options/settings)

However for intermediate (?) users as myself who know nothing about firewalls rules, its not easy to use OA beyond its Standard Mode.

Frustrating because I really do like OA, but unable to config firewall for apps/utilities the same as I can easily do in ZA Pro 5.5.

I realize Tall Emu probably looks at OA 2 as OA (Process Guard/HIPS) with a firewall, whereas I'm looking at OA as a software firewall solution with great Process Guard/HIPS protection.

[MikeNash]

In relation to OA's firewall -- Rules. Why did it have to be rules.

Just "curious". Given the prime focus of Tall Emu is to make OA easy to use, and OA's "Programs" is application based. Why was not OA's firewall application based like ZA instead of rules.

I'm sick of these RULES in this FIREWALL. The topic title gave me a grin, and I must say I'll be watching google with interest... all those snakes on a plane fans finding us by accident.

In standard mode - it _is_ application based. You'll get one popup, and the underlying rules will be created automagically.



IMHO ZA one of the easiest firewalls to understand/use. Been using ZA since 2.0 and have staid with ZA Pro 5.5 since I detest all the non-firewall features bloat in the ZA Pro 6.x and 7.x versions. I purchased a new system and have been looking for a new software firewall. I was just about to give Sunbelt Personal Firewall a trial, since it uses basically the same application setup as ZA, until I read the Online Armor Free topic at Wilders Security Forums. I was truly impressed with Mike Nash's time/efforts in to replies to the posts.

My wife is slightly less impressed with me, I can assure you :D I personally liked the original ZA too (aside from the GUI)


It's really great all that OA does when used in Standard Mode, but there are times being in full auto mode is not the best. There are some apps/utilities I want to be "Trusted" only to run, but not access the internet ("phone home").

You should be able to do that - it's actually a wee bug we just stamped out. You can go to the firewall tab and block - program can run, but not use the net. The bug in the current release is that if the program is TRUSTED then this does not work. You can also turn off "Automatically allow trusted programs to access the internet" on the firewall options page.


In OA's current state (i.e., very limited Help & No User Guide) OA it great for:
• The (novice) PC user who's OK with letting OA make all the decisions for them.
• Advance users that know how to use/make firewall rules. (Along with all the other Advance Firewall Mode options/settings)

Yep, you're probably right. There's that annoying gap in the middle alright. I am working on the help file, but it is really hard.


However for intermediate (?) users as myself who know nothing about firewalls rules, its not easy to use OA beyond its Standard Mode.

As I mention above you cold use the firewall/block option here and turn off the auto allow. It should help.


Frustrating because I really do like OA, but unable to config firewall for apps/utilities the same as I can easily do in ZA Pro 5.5.

If you have specific suggestions - post em up in new features. We do listen (hey, we already implemented "Block all traffic" and OA free has only been released a few weeks )

I realize Tall Emu probably looks at OA 2 as OA (Process Guard/HIPS) with a firewall, whereas I'm looking at OA as a software firewall solution with great Process Guard/HIPS protection.

Hm, I look at OA2 as a security suite :) Our target is to make it the only security product that a user _needs_ to install to get a great level of protection.