Scot’s Newsletter Blog

- Reviewed: ZoneAlarm 7.0.337 (freeware)
- Look ‘n’ Stop 2.06
- Eset’s Smart Security Suite Beta
- Myths About Other Firewalls

The research for my ongoing series on software firewalls for Windows has entered an interesting phase since the last newsletter, in which I focused on Comodo, Jetico, and Kerio.

For one thing, a large number of readers responded with requests and suggestions. The suggestion I heard most frequently was: Please consider ZoneAlarm. (I also received some flames from misinformed ZoneAlarm fanatics, but that’s another story.) So, I’m starting this issue with a full test of ZoneAlarm.

Review: ZoneAlarm 7.0.337 Free Version
Last September, when I launched my search for a great lightweight, quiet, low-overhead software firewall, I left Check Point’s free ZoneAlarm software off the list. My primary security focus was outbound firewall protection. Testing from earlier last year by FirewallLeakTester.com showed that ZoneAlarm Pro offers excellent outbound software firewall protection, and the free version of ZoneAlarm — surprisingly — does not.

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Anyone who’s even half as addicted to the Internet as I am will surely lust after a service that delivers wireless broadband Internet service wherever you go. I’ve had Verizon’s EV-DO Rev A. BroadbandAccess WWAN service for a couple of weeks, and I’ve found myself using it quite a bit. If you travel, this service is definitely worthwhile. It’s especially worthwhile if you work for a company that will let you expense it. Because at $80 a month, it ain’t cheap. It’s definitely my kind of luxury, though.

Let’s get down to business: How fast is it? On the Verizon Wireless website, the company claims an average of 400-700kpbs. But it really depends on where you are and how many others are using it in the same area. I’ve seen everything from less than 200kbps to more than 1,200kbps, and Verizon’s average seems reasonable to me. At all rates of connection, I’ve found Web surfing and email checking to be just fine. I’ve also yet to experience annoying interruptions or any hiccups whatsoever. Once you’re connected, you’re connected.

Verizon Wireless also offers a less expensive $60-a-month version of the service whose average speed is supposed to be 60-80kbps. In for a penny, in for a pound, I figured. I wanted to be wowed, and I have been.

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The debate about whether — or not — Macs are more expensive than PCs has been raging on the Internet for more than a decade. There are some hard realities about the discussion, and there are also some myths. As a longtime Windows guy who has recently migrated to the Mac, I think I’m in a good position to put this discussion into honest context.

For all those people who have ever bought Packard Bell or eMachines PCs — and who continue to believe that great value in a Windows computer is any model that sells for $600 or less — I agree: Apple doesn’t have an answer for you. In fact, I suggest you skip this article entirely. You’re not going to find anything of interest.

It’s the Hardware
For those of you who are left, what my research shows is that neither the Macintosh nor the field of Windows PCs has a lock on good value. If you view this discussion from Apple’s side, what you’ll be doing is starting with Apple’s relatively short list of SKUs (three or four model variations for each of its lines, such as MacBook Pro, MacBook, and iMac) and then looking for Windows machines that are comparable. Apple bests the competition in some spots, though not always. But the pricing is surprisingly on par.

The reality is that there are Windows machines that fit in between Mac SKUs. And in those niches, they represent very good values. But when they Windows and Mac models meet square on, the answer is not so clear cut. That in itself may be a surprise to many Windows people. Only a few years ago, it was a no-brainer that Windows hardware was much cheaper. But if you’re talking name-brand hardware, that’s no longer the case.

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Microsoft’s sad attempt to fight software piracy at the expense of its ordinary end users continues to leave me cold. For the second time since last year, Microsoft released a new update of the WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) Notifications code that attempts to install on your system as part of the Windows Update process. This is the case even if you have previously told Windows Update that you do not want to receive the WGA Notifications update.

Microsoft’s only excuse is: But hey, this is a new and improved version of WGA Notifications. We know this helps no one but Microsoft, but since we’ve spiffed it up, that means we no longer have to pay attention to the fact that you said you didn’t want to get this code in the past — twice! There was a time when Microsoft was a much better company than this. It truly is a shame that Microsoft is treating Windows users this way.

For more information on how WGA Notifications appears in Windows Update, and how you can prevent this version from installing, read this article from a previous Scot’s Newsletter.

MyRealBox, the free email service once provided by Novell’s NetMail development team, was totally mishandled by Messaging Architects, the company that purchased NetMail from Novell on January 30.

After years of reliable service, my three MyRealBox accounts went dead without warning a couple of months ago. And there’s no way to get them back. I used one of those accounts as my primary subscription account for hundreds of newsletters and websites. The inconvenience is huge. I don’t even have a list of every site I registered to with my MyRealBox account. And worse, I advised SFNL readers several years ago to grab a MyRealBox account — and I know many did.

I’m piecing together what might have happened, based mostly on a terse message box that appeared on the MyRealBox home page a couple of months ago. I saw the box for the first time when I visited the site after my accounts were closed. The message noted that the time was up for notifying MyRealBox that you wanted to continue your account. All of my messages to customer service to find out about this went completely unanswered. Apparently, Messaging Architects posted a message on its home page warning MyRealBox account holders to contact the company in some fashion or have their accounts revoked by such and such a date. As a POP3/SMTP user of MyRealBox, though, I never had a reason to visit the company website. Messaging Architects apparently didn’t even bother to send an email to its users — or if it did, the message was so spammy it never showed up.

Look, I can understand that the service was free and that nothing free lasts forever. But Messaging Architects might have at least given non-Web-mail users a fighting chance. Even 30-days’ notice with no option of keeping your account would have been more reasonable.

Add Messaging Architects to the Hall of Shame. It belongs there permanently, with no opportunity of parole.

Late last year, I similarly lost a paid-for email account provided by a small email host called Modomail. Again, the service was stellar for several years. I never had an outage with Modomail that lasted longer than a few hours. My uptime was almost perfect. The service cost something like $25 a year. But one day, one of my two Modomail accounts went totally dead. I was still within my annual pay period by several months. But the account stopped recognizing my login. Since my login was saved in my email package, and was used every eight minutes by the software, nothing had changed on my side. (For you Mac cynics, this actually happened prior to my switch to the Mac.)

Numerous email messages to Modomail’s customer service went unanswered. Eventually, I gave up on the account entirely. There was nothing I could do.

Once the contract period expired, the account was deleted and I was able to create a new 30-day free account with the same email address and the same login and password information. That account worked just fine (though I let it expire). My other Modomail account will expire at the end of the month.

Good riddance, Modomail.

I’ve moved back to email host FastMail.fm for several inexpensive, low-annual-fee POP3/SMTP accounts.

I signed up to have Verizon install FiOS TV in my home on May 29th. Newer SFNL subscribers may not realize that I’m lucky enough to have 15Mbps FiOS FTTP (fiber optic to the premises) broadband at my home.

I adore my FiOS broadband service, and so it was a natural extension to consider expanding it to FiOS TV (digital and HD) cable-TV-like service when it became available in my hometown.

But when the FiOS tech arrived to install it, I learned two things that the salesperson neglected to tell me:

1. Verizon uses your broadband access for on-demand TV, downloading the channel guide, and other data transfers specific to you or your town. Verizon says that they have a way to increase the bandwidth for these downloads so that it doesn’t take away from your Internet service, but I’m not buying that. I’m willing to listen to them explain this, but so far, no one I’ve talked to at Verizon can offer one. (In fact, in my latest conversation on the subject, a Verizon Encore customer rep supervisor got angry with me saying that I didn’t need to know how it worked, it just did. In my experience when the customer service people get defensive about a technical question, there’s a problem.)

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He who has more computers than he has a right to often doesn’t have other advanced toys that he has craved.

When it comes to big-screen HDTV, though, that’s about to end. (My hybrid car and fourth Mac will have to wait, I guess.)

Cyndy, my wife, will tell you that my HDTV decision is directly the result of my two favorite sports teams looking up this year — in a big way. One has a leading record and the other is having a very productive off-season. I learned long ago: Don’t bet against my wife!

But there’s another reason I’m finally breaking down and getting ready to spend money I don’t have yet on a 50-inch flat-screen TV. I’m talking about the confluence of the high-resolution 1080p standard with plasma display technology. Pioneer and Panasonic both announced 1080p plasmas early this year, and they’ve been shipping for a few months. Other manufacturers have them too. It’s finally the right time to buy a big-screen plasma TV.

I’m not going to get into a long discussion about plasma’s strengths and weaknesses versus other display technologies. But suffice it to say that I also like the best of the LCD technology for big-screen TVs too. For two products I picked late last fall in Computerworld’s 2006 Holiday Gift Guide, see this story.

The plasma TV I’m giving strong consideration to is Panasonic’s 50-inch 1080p HDTV model TH-50PZ700U.

If you have experience with this plasma TV, or any other 1080p plasma, I’d be very interested in your input.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Windows geek or Mac nerd; the Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher interview of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates is a must see. I count eight Jobs-and-Gates videos hosted on The Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital website. Make some time to take a look and listen. There’s little revealing in it about the future, but the videos are essential viewing for anyone interested in computers and consumer electronics. Go check them out.

It’s been a long time since I put out a call for contributions to the cause here at the newsletter. But it’s time for me to do that again. If you enjoy this newsletter and would like to help me keep it going, I could use your help. This is a one-man-band operation. I do the work on weekends and evenings, and I don’t get paid. The research I do often costs money that comes out of my own pocket. The ads help but they don’t pay the full freight.

You have two choices for how to send your contribution:

1. Send your contribution with PayPal. (You can use a credit card through PayPal.)

My PayPal email address is scot@scotsnewsletter.com.

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