PrivateFirewall and it's future.

[Ink]

I was interested in how PrivateFirewall would develop considering Win8 is just around the corner and whether they plan to release a refreshed GUI.

Email from PrivacyWare, regarding enquiries made for PrivateFirewall.

We’ve just released the latest update for Privatefirewall on 9/30, so aren’t far enough along with the next build to have any definitive release dates defined just yet. Windows 8 release itself is scheduled for mid-late 2012, so we’ll keep pace with the various Beta releases that MS makes available to their partner community (of which we are a member) throughout this time period. Now, these builds may contain only unsigned drivers and would be made available to Privatefirewall Beta users only. Our work on Win 8 will be complete once MS ships their RTM version.

While Win 8 is in process, it is likely we’ll release other updates to Privatefirewall as there is a long list of non Win 8 enhancements that we will address in parallel with the necessary Win 8 work. The GUI re-design is another large project, so this will not be ready very soon (not likely before the end of the year).

I hope this information helps, but please feel free to periodically check in with me for updates.

Best regards,

Greg

Greg Salvato
Privacyware: www.privacyware.com

 

[bogdan]

Private Firewall is an excellent product, but the GUI makes it indeed not friendly for new users. For advanced users however it can provide excellent protection. I would also tighten up the security a bit by changing some default settings (disabling Auto Response as it might allow digitally signed malware to run... at least as far as i could figure out when I last checked this product.)

 

[blues]

Just to add some new info to the discussion, below is an excerpt from an email correspondence I received from Greg Salvato earlier today.
Greg and the folks at Privacyware are very dedicated and super responsive to the requests and needs of their clients. For example, several enhancements I requested and discussed with Greg over the past year or so have been incorporated into the product, including the "limited rights" feature.

Thank you for the report. We are working on two major initiatives for Privatefirewall at the moment – Windows 8 support (working with the Developer Preview build now) and we are also starting to look at some level of GUI redesign (it’s still too early to tell how much of this will be superficial and how much will impact the “workflow” of the application, but this task is long overdue). Now, in addition to these primary tasks, we will pick off a few or even several of the frequently requested enhancements or other types of modifications in the next release and it is possible that one or more of the ones on your wish list will be included – so do stay tuned.

Thanks again, as always, for your input and support.

Best regards,

Greg

 

[moonshine]

Well it's good to see that Privacyware are very dedicated in improving an already great free product.