Is Windows 7 Firewall good enough?

[Peppurr101]

Hello,
I have just ditched the trial version of McAfee Security Center in favour of Microsoft Security Essentials on my Win 7 Starter Netbook after reading in several forums how good it is (and free!). I like it so far but it has enabled the Windows Firewall.

I am unfamiliar with the Windows 7 Firewall and I am wondering if it is as good as a third party firewall. I know Windows Firewall is less 'user friendly' than most third party firewalls, and at first glance it seems fairly basic. There is no 'site advisor' for internet websites, and I can't find where to look for attempted network connections etc.

I use Norton 2010 on my desktop and am happy with that.. they have a version for netbooks- I am wondering if I should go with that instead..

Any feedback would be helpful
Thank you.

[HansV]

The Windows 7 Firewall is fairly basic but in my opinion it's perfectly adequate for most users. I've been using it in combination with Microsoft Security Essentials since I got a PC with Windows 7 in January, and it's been doing a good job. It's unobtrusive - it's asked me for permission to allow a program to connect to the internet only once or twice; it mostly runs on automatic.

To be on the safe side, I run a scan with other security software from time to time, and always get a clean bill.

The Windows 7 Firewall is a two-way firewall, but by default only inbound traffic is monitored. If you also want outbound traffic to be monitored, you must turn this on explicitly. (You can do this if you're afraid your PC might be infected with software sending out spam, for example)

[Peppurr101]

Thanks Hans,
I'll stick with it for now..
:)