I am wondering how good the Windows Firewall and AV Protection that comes with SP2 is. I'm asking because my McAfee Security Center services will be expiring soon and I don't want to subscribe to it if I do not necessarily have to.

I am running McAfee Security Center on my desktop and I like it a lot, but I don't want to pay to renew four services twice every year.

Just FYI, I do secure my network through my router settings as well (best practices + 128 WEP, MAC filtering etc...). The Window Firewall and Antivirus protection seem fine, but my problem with it is that you have very little (or no) setting options. You pretty much have to trust that it is doing the right thing.

Oh, Zone Alarm is out of the question. My wife uses my laptop too. And you know how well novice users and Zone Alarm get along.

All in all, with the Firewall,AV, Malicious Software Removal (available through monthly update) and the AntiSpyware beta I think M$ is finally getting serious about security,

BUT is it good enough?

Please chime in my nerdy comrads.

 

ohhh kay...

 

I never had any trouble when I was using Windows Firewall; it seemed to block just about everything. But I use Norton IS anyway, because I like the ad-blocking feature.

But I agree, M$ is getting better at their security. Their reputation is on the line.

(I'm not the best person to listen to though... not exactly a computer genius here).