Could the next release of avast! contain a firewall?
Yes it could. Will it happen? No.
i hate Windows firewall.
What is stopping you from getting a hardware firewall.....
or using another (free) software firewall.....
You are not forced to use the Windows Firewall.
And for requests for Avast, there is another thread on this board dealing with it.
It is called "whislist for the next release"