I have not yet seen version 7, but it sounds pretty good. I hear the GUI is or soon will be Java based which makes me hesitant,  Java always seems slow and kludgy with lots of annoying bugs in user interfaces.  I complained bitterly for years over the  PHP issues, and now in 6.1x they have it really well executed IMHO.   I do have one question, what is the maximum number of interfaces in one of their appliances? I have eight interfaces on my appliance, all in use, and it  looks like I will soon be needing a ninth.  If they supported more interfaces that would be a compelling reason to upgrade.

Thanks for all the comments about this.  I am not really sure how I feel about the end of life issue. On the one hand I understand Secure needs to generate revenue and control costs which dictates older issue equipment going end of  life, but on the other hand, this type of upgrade is expensive and disruptive, and  I wonder about what is owed the end user who drops tens of thousands of dollars into a firewall then pays support too. As I often have said, it’s one thing when I pay $79 bucks for an off the shelf device at Best Buy and call support, but totally another when I pay these prices.  This is why I WON”T USE SYMANTEC PRODUCTS.  I guess I feel like Secure support is generally very, very good but their product policies leave something to be desired. It’s like Winston Churchill’s description of democracy, “…It’s the worst form of government in the world –except all the others.”

Daniel Sichel, CCNP, MCSE

Network Engineer

Ponderosa Telephone (559) 868-6367