It is possible that there are old security vulnerabilities in the Windows Firewall in Windows XP and Vista. There maybe a greater chance of getting hacked or infected with malware by having the Windows Firewall turned ON in Windows XP and Vista if there is a unfixedsecurity vulnerability in the Windows Firewall installed in Windows XP and Vista.
Using Windows XP and Vista firewall software which have not have a major update to fix security vulnerabilities in many years can be unsafe as well.
There are most likely safer third-party firewalls software which sometimes come bundle with Antivirus software which still are compatible for XP and Vista.
It is not very hard for more tech savvy users to create a hardware firewall with a Linux based Firewall Operating System and cheap PC like the Raspberry Pi.
Users can always buy a hardware firewall off of eBay or Newegg if they need more protection, and a custom hardware firewall.
The average user is going to just buy a computer with a newer operating system than go out and buy a firewall, which many people don't know actually exist.
The average user is going to just buy a computer with a newer operating system than go out and buy a firewall, which many people don't know actually exist.
When a user buy a new computer, the computer store staff sometimes try to sell Security software suites which include antivirus and firewall software. The store staff may ask them if they need other things like a new router which usually comes with a basic hardware firewall.
I think more people know that firewall software exist these days. When I watch the local news and cable news on TV, they sometimes talk about firewall software when there is a popular computer virus like WannaCry Ransomware which infect many computers worldwide. I think most people have heard of Firewall software from the local news, and newspapers/news magazines, but they never bothered to use a search engine like Google or Yahoo to search the internet for PC websites which has more info about Firewall software.
I also see a lot of internet banner ads for antivirus and firewall software, so I think other internet users also seen similar ads for security software when they use the internet to browse different websites.