It has been over a year and a half since the consumer release of Windows Vista, and the Sunbelt Personal Firewall is finally compatible with it. The new version has better network performance, enhanced packet filtering, improved stability, Vista (32-bit) compatibility, and more. Plus, like always, it comes in both free and paid flavors.

AVG is often recognized as one of the top antivirus applications, but they also have a paid version available with some more advanced features. For a little while now AVG 8.0 has been in a public Beta stage, and just the other day the first Release Candidate was pushed out the door.

If you've missed out on one of our other security software deals, then this is one you may want to take advantage of. I'll forewarn you that this does require a mail in rebate, but in the end you can actually make money from it! Oh yeah, and you must purchase this today if you want to cash in on the rebate.

A few weeks back I finally broke down and bought the ESET Smart Security suite (review). I needed two licenses for it, and I decided to just buy the two-year subscription up front so that I could take advantage of the extra savings. In the end my total came out to $103.99, but it was worth it for two licenses and two years of protection from one of the best security companies around.

We've always been a relatively large fan of the Comodo Firewall Pro software, not only because it is 100% free but also because of its award-winning reputation. The new version pulls out all stops bringing full support for both XP and Vista 32-bit and 64-bit versions! After playing with this for a few hours I would have to say that they did it again ...

One of the things that Windows is always heavily criticized for is the lack of security features out-of-the-box. Windows XP and Vista do come with free firewalls, and Vista has the new User Account Control (UAC), but people still expect it to do more.

Eset is one of the most respected antivirus development companies, and is definitely one of my favorites. Earlier this year we informed you about the product line for their next generation antivirus solutions, which includes a standalone antivirus application and a security suite complete with firewall. Next Monday, November 5th, consumers will be able to purchase the new line of products.

I received a tip the other day from "S" who was letting me know that Webroot is giving away free licenses for their firewall software. This is for a limited time only, and I've already requested several licenses of it for myself.

A recent study by Antivirus developer McAfee and the National Cyber Security Alliance found that while people think their home computers are safe from viruses and malware, they're really not.  Over 90% of the people that participated in the study believed that they had antivirus or anti-malware software installed and that it was updating at least weekly.  As it turns out, only 51% of those people actually were protected.

As it stands right now there are not many Vista-compatible firewalls available.