First off, it's important to understand that the WSA firewall works differently than a traditional firewall in that it works together with the Windows firewall, functioning as the outbound component while the Windows firewall takes care of the inbound traffic. More specifically, it blocks malicious data traffic coming onto your computer. Basically, when both are turned on, they work in tandem to monitor data traffic coming in and out of your computer ports, looking for untrusted process that try to connect to the internet. The result is an intelligent and hassle-free firewall that unintrusively performs in the background, letting our powerful antivirus work it's magic and only steps in if it misses something.
Windows 8 presents certain technological limitations to our current firewall implementation and we are evaluating our options in light of those limitations. The operating system itself is locked down in certain respects that limit what third-party firewalls are capable of, which is why you don't see some of the features in Windows 8 that you would otherwise see in older versions of Windows.
The Webroot SecureAnywhere firewall and software is compatible with any other antivirus or firewall application, so you should have no problem running our software alongside your other antivirus/firewall. While it is possible for another antivirus or firewall application to interfere with WSA, no part of Webroot should interfere with other firewalls as WSA is built to recognize and co-exist with other legitimate antivirus/firewall applications. Running the Windows firewall alongside our program is recommended and sufficient because the Windows firewall is effective against hostile inbound connections, whereas SecureAnywhere provides effective outbound protection.
