Thank you for all these details.

Firstly, the free version never had support, never did.  Not in the current free version nor the previous one.  As mentioned in my previous post, there was a forum by fans of the original free version where help and supprt was given.  Don't know if there is one now or if not there may be one in the future, who knows.

Here is a link to Agnitum's site showing the comparison of the features of the free version vs the pro version. http://free.agnitum.com/

As for me, I'm sticking with the free version.

If I am not mistaken, the two links provided by Grantwhy refer to the Pro version and not to the Free one : "End of support for Outpost Pro versions older than 7.0" !?

PC Tools Firewall Plus ended up being my favorite of the bunch.  It was the best at cataloging my software to minimize popups, and it has a nice clean interface that was simple to configure.  It's not for the extreme user with 5 different internal networks, but that was a plus for me as it makes it simple to install and to know its working correctly.  For 99% of us it will get the job done nicely.  Hopefully PC Tools will keep up with development on Firewall Plus but I'm concerned with its long term future under their business model.

Online Armor is a very nice firewall and will work for the most hard core of users.  However for most users the many opinions can be daunting which could lead to miss-configuration.  If you are a serious poweruser this is probably the best free firewall to be had but it's not something you can install and forget about.  In addition I was not very impressed with its cataloging of installed software.  The developer could do better here.  If you really know your stuff this one is worth looking into.  I'll be watching Online Armor's development closely as I think it has a promising future.

Zone Alarm had a major comeback with their firewall this year.  Nice clean interface that looks somewhat like PC Tool's Fireware Plus.  It was simple to install and setup.  It's in software detection and popups that Zone Alarm lets down.  If you can stand all the popups for a month while you teach it your apps, you will have a nice firewall in the end.  However it’s so similar to PC Tools in it feature set that I would just go there and skip the fun with popups.

Comodo Firewall is a mess of a program.  It's a very powerful firewall, but I can't think of an application that's harder to get working correctly.  I was using Comodo back when everyone was saying it was the only program out that was worth looking at, and I was tweaking it's settings until the day I got rid of it.  Do yourself a favor that stay away.

In the end I'm not using any of them myself.  I'm running Windows 7 and decided the build in firewall is all I need and it NEVER bugs me.  It just works like it should.  So my recommendation would be a Windows 7 upgrade. However if you have to run XP there are a couple of good free firewalls out there for you.

http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/free-internet-security.php

Comodo Internet Security Pro includes:

• LivePCSupport – (Full
  version) Includes the Virus Diagnosis and Removal Service plus General
  PC Troubleshooting, PC Tune Up and Optimization, Internet Login
  Protection, Email Account Setup, Software Installation, Printer
  Setup/Troubleshooting
• TrustConnect - Encrypted Internet Proxy Service that makes surfing the web safe from any public Wi-Fi location
• Virus Free Guarantee -

For Vista and Win7, the Windows firewall is just fine for most people.

http://www.privacyware.com/personal_firewall.html

But if you're like me and only install a firewall for its packet/application filtering capabilities, then I would say just stick with Outpost 6.5 Free and a router. There hasn't been any drastic changes to IPv4 since when I was still a toddler   and since you're on XP, you don't have IPv6 to worry about by default.

Tests like Matousec's, usually only test the HIPS capabilities of firewall suites. Personally, I don't use HIPS since I trust the programs I install and use on my computer and run under a limited user account 95% of the time. That and because HIPS popups drive me nuts  aside from my propensity to just click Allow so that I could use that darn program .

If you're not like me and knowledgeable enough to deal with HIPS, then I'd suggest Comodo or OA free. Privatefirewall and PC Tools have HIPS as well but not as full blown as the other two. The upcoming Comodo version 5 promises to be even more user-friendly with less popups.

Hope it helps,

Zug

Otherwise, I saw that  Online Armor was not far behind Comodo.

As in their previous free version, there was a support forum that was on going by fans of the free version.  I'm sure there will be one again. 

I used the original free version for many years until it didn't work properly in XP.  I was never happy with any of the other firewalls I used until Agnitum gave us a newer free version.

I still intend to keep using it until it no longer works in newer Win OS or until Agnitum comes up with another free version.

http://www.agnitum.com/news/20.....er-7-0.php

http://www.agnitum.com/support.....ection.php

I started using Outpost after reading Ashraf's (very good ) "Prevention, detection, and cure: 12 programs that will provide the best all-around security for you and your computer – for free" article back in April 2010

http://dottech.org/tipsntricks/3174

and I see there are a number of other free firewall programs mentioned in that article.

I'm looking for suggestions on which is the next best one to use (on an older computer -> AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2800+ with 2.0GB DDR ram and still running XP)

the other (free) firewall progammes Ashraf mentioned were:

Comodo Personal Firewall Pro

Online Armor Personal Firewall Free Edition

PC Tools Firewall Plus

 Windows Firewall

should I use one of those or are there some new ones to consider?