They’ve always said that the Avast! FW complements the Windows Firewall, a number of people have voiced in previous versions that the Avast! Firewall wasn’t strong enough/effective enough on its own, hence working alongside the Windows Firewall. However I’m getting mixed messages and oppinions on the state of the firewall now with some users saying it’s fine whereas others saying that you use Avast!'s firewall on it’s own. I’d love to hear from someone within Avast! and get some confirmation as my setting have remained the same since moving onto 9 with both firewalls working and I’ve not encountered any problems or had avast wanting to shut off the Windows Firewall.