6/4/2008 -- I read somewhere that Windows Vista's firewall allows you to configure inbound and outbound rules. I've looked everywhere in my Windows Firewall but I don't see those options. Is there a registry hack to display those options?

Answer
When you go to Network and Sharing Center and click on Windows Firewall, you're looking at the basic firewall in Vista.

There's also another advanced firewall that's relatively hidden called Windows "Firewall with Advanced Security" that's located under Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Administrative Tools. (You can also get to it from Start, All Programs, Administrative Tools.)

The advanced version integrates Windows Firewall with IPsec settings in a single console. Not only can you configure inbound and outbound rules, you can also configure connection security rules which use IPsec to enforce authentication and encryption. The monitoring node shows you the status of the firewall and displays general settings, as well as the logging settings.

I should point out that the Network Shell (netsh) command-line tool can be used to configure the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security. Type "netsh advfirewall /?" (without the quotes) at the command prompt to see the options available in that context.