There's also a game mode, so that security scans and non-priority notices are suspended while you are playing your favorite online games-still a rarity among Internet-security suites. The suite includes spam protection from SonicWall, and, of course, Check Point's award-winning firewall. Boot time is much faster in this latest version, as are the individual scans for antivirus (using the Kaspersky Anti-Virus engine) and antispyware (Check Point's own engine).
ZoneAlarm Internet Security 2009 includes all the security tools you need to keep not only your desktop PC secure, but also your personal identity safe while surfing online. Other firewalls make us jump through hoops or create complicated rule sets to tweak a given application. We like the ease of customization here, letting us to allow, block, or ask with each program. For example, under Program Control, there's an overview link of security settings, a tab for individual-program access, and a tab for component access. Gone are the tabs used in the past, replaced with an enhanced left-hand navigation. ZoneAlarm's interface remains the high bar for design, at once communicating plenty of information without a lot of clutter or silly icons.
The new interface within ZoneAlarm Internet Security 2009 is cleaner, less complicated, and more modern than the previous one. We cannot say the same for McAfee, Norton, or Trend Micro. Upon reboot, we found absolutely no trace of ZoneAlarm-not in the Registry, not in the system folders. The uninstall process is smooth, first verifying that you want to do this, then disconnecting from the Zone Labs servers and removing the application. Should you decide to uninstall, ZoneAlarm Internet Security 2009 includes an uninstall icon in the All Programs listing-something McAfee and Norton do not. After these questions, you'll need to reboot once again. Finally, the program will ask whether you want to scan your PC starting immediately. For this, we advise you to choose ZoneAlarm's protection-not only will you then manage everything through the ZoneAlarm interface, but you'll receive state-of-the-art protection from Kaspersky Anti-Virus. After that, you'll be asked whether you have antivirus protection and, if you don't, whether you want to enable protection within ZoneAlarm. Next, you're asked to participate in DefenseNet, ZoneAlarm's security-threat center where new alerts are recorded anonymously you can opt out, if you prefer. The default is Auto-Learn, and we left it at that setting. A Maximum setting flags everything until ZoneAlarm "learns" which security settings you prefer an Auto-Learn setting starts the learning process earlier by temporarily lowering the security settings, resulting in fewer messages and finally, a Minimum setting protects you against older, known alerts but no new threats, resulting in virtually no alerts. The first question is in regards to the ZoneAlarm program-control security setting, which controls the number of message alerts you'll see on your desktop.
With the install, after an initial reboot, we were asked a series of questions to help us set up the application. There is a full-function, 15-day trail version available at the end of the trail period, the program reverts to the free, basic ZoneAlarm firewall product.
ZoneAlarm requires the use of Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. We downloaded the 44MB installation file and installed ZoneAlarm Internet Security 2009 without a hitch. Right now, current users should be satisfied with the upgrade, and new users won't be disappointed, but we don't feel comfortable awarding ZoneAlarm Internet Security 2009 with our Editors' Choice award yet this year. In the fall we expect to see major improvements in Internet Security suites from Symantec Norton, McAfee, and Trend Micro, and so we will be adjusting our review of ZoneAlarm Internet Security 2009 accordingly. The competition among Internet Security-suite vendors is heating up. Missing, however, is its Web 2.0 safe-browsing protection, which Check Point has yielded to its new ForceField product.
Unlike some everything-including-the-kitchen-sink suites we've seen lately, ZoneAlarm still covers just the basics, and continues to be best of breed in antivirus, antispam, and firewall protection. There's a new user interface, but little else feature-wise. Optimizing the resources for desktop and laptop Windows users is important within a suite of tools, and long-time ZoneAlarm users will notice the benefits almost immediately. The improvements within Check Point ZoneAlarm Internet Security 2009 are mostly under the hood, but they are nonetheless significant.