I understand your position souleman, many subscribe to the idea that if you have all unecessary services disabled, use an av and an at, and watch your own activities (DLs, allows, have proper browser security, etc.) you are secure enough.

Much of the truth of this, however, rests in how well each knows his system, apps, and connections.

IE users with default settings may or may not know just what lurks behind a craftily designed web page, or that Outlook Express is hooked through their IE settings and find some hostile code in an email that they don't spot, nor their AV/AT componnents spot.

We have helped many a seasoned user find and destroy trojan servers that have slipped past both AV and AT that were identified only by outbound communication attempts through the firewall.

Today's free firewall technology may be sufficient for most of today's exploits, but the advancing sophistication of exploits will require even more granularity in controls and in application sandboxing.

BI 3.5 does, in fact contain application control and outbound protection (though this isn't sandboxing).

ZoneAlarm is moving away from "Free" as has been noted from the fact that the free version is still v2.6.

Kerio is going to be introducing it's next version of it's PFW that will be free with some features disabled without purchasing a license.

Tiny is preparing to introduce v3.0 (in the next couple of days) that will include some sandboxing technology but will not be free (30 day try and buy).

Sygate will only maintain it's free version for a short time longer.

The bottom line is .... for those who feel the need for a firewall (all should IMHO), it is time to keep an eye on what is emerging with an open mind so that decision making will not be biased based on someone elses opinion, but on the true functionality of the product, and the needs of the individual.

Free is always better, but free won't last forever.