Third party firewalls

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Is Avast free 2014 compatible with thirt party firewalls now?

See this topic: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=320638

2

Check the signatures of many of the users here on the forum, many have third party firewalls and they work fine with avast.

The article you referred to regarding Comodo was a problem on their side and not a problem of avasts.

3

Check out these links.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-firewall.htm

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Firewall/Online-Armor-Free.shtml
http://www.filehippo.com/download_outpost_firewall/
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Firewall/Privatefirewall.shtml
http://www.filehippo.com/download_comodo/13662/
To install just the Comodo Firewall follow these instructions.

All of the above have HIPS.