The long awaited Comodo Internet Security 4 was recently released to the public in beta form. Is it as good as its award-winning precedent? Has this version sacrificed security for user-friendliness?
Introduction
Security enthusiasts might have heard of Comodo Internet Security v. 3. It is a free security suite, mostly aimed for knowledgable users. But the "newbies" are left confused by some of its alerts..."'svchost.exe" is trying to connect to 192.168.1.1! What does this mean?"
Comodo promised that version 4 would be friendlier for the newbies too. Some others have raised a question: "Is CIS 4 still as secure as version 3?"
Let's take a look.
Installation
Rating 
After downloading Comodo Internet Security 4 Beta, I booted up my Windows 7 virtual machine and executed the file. (The virtual machine system was a fresh install, except that Comodo Time Machine was installed beforehand. CIS and CTM work together when both installed.)
In this first screen, the CIS installer is telling us this is a beta. For those who don't know what a beta is, click here. Basically, we shouldn't install this yet on our regular computers, because it is still new and "buggy." If you are unlucky, bad things could happen...so always use an alternate computer or a virtual machine to test betas.
This shows were we want to have the CIS files go. Usually I don't mess with this (you don't need to).
If you want to receive Comodo's newletter, put in your email address.
In CIS, there are three main components: the antivirus (AV), the firewall, and Defense+ (D+ is a HIPS: a boiled down description is that it alerts you to changes programs are making on your computer). You can choose whether or not to install the AV or firewall. I'm installing both.
If you joined ThreatCast, in an alert you will see what other users have done. The popular choice isn't always right, but it can help.
Comodo offers its own DNS service. I'll keep with the default and not use it.
Finally CIS is installing. I don't particularly like CIS's installers—they have too many screens and options. At least you aren't tricked into getting anything non-security related, though.
After being installed, a restart is needed.
Look and Feel
Rating 
Some CIS users said the GUI (graphical user interface) of v. 3 wasn't newbie-friendly, while others liked it. The GUI in version 4 is only slightly changed, with a new red look.
You may notice that it is saying Comodo Application Agent is not running. I'm not sure what this does and what it will affect, but since this machine is clean except for Comodo Time Machine I was a bit surprised. However, it is a beta and unstable.
Please see the next page for more features and the rest of this review on Comodo Internet Security 4.