question - Which one?

[XcOM]

Hi all,

I have been writing a firewall program for quite a while now, i was wondering which one looks best for the splash?
Fire1:

Or

Fire2:

[.Maleficus.]

Fire2. It goes better with the lock. But, maybe touch up the text a little, in it's current state it's a tad hard to read the way it all melts together with the flames.

[XcOM]

here, i've cleaned up the text a bit, added a soft glow, and a stroke around the letters:

[Elenril]

I like fire2. The stroke looks a bit harsh, even at that opacity. Maybe try a black outer glow (at low opacity) instead to take the edge away from it?

[Airbozo]

fire2 after you fixed it.

[Greco101]

[Zephik]

My vote goes for Fire2 (before or after or Greco's, but if I had to choose one, Greco's).

Cool splash screen either way. ^_^

[SgtM]

here, i've cleaned up the text a bit, added a soft glow, and a stroke around the letters:

I dig this one. The only other thing I would suggest is some kind of gradient or even solid color fill on the text. Even with the stroke around it, it's a little hard on the eyes.

[D1337]

Fire1, yep.
Font is clearly visible, the lock is very noticeable, all is well.

The original fire2 is ok, but the white just bleaches out the edges of the text and hurts my eyes.

Xcom's second attempt... shadow between fire and letters? wtf?

greco's makes the already bad text in Fire2 worse, and makes the edges of the lock choppy, without the effect, the lock flows better.

just my opinions, no offense to anyones art.

[XcOM]

after taking your ideas onboard, here is two more designs based on comments:
fire4:

and fire5: