Difference Between Bitdefender Windows 8 Security, Total Security 2013 And Family Pack

Greetings,

I'm considering making a move from Norton over to BitDefender after judging by the latest reports from AV-Comparatives and AV-test on the web.

Before making the jump I wanted to ask about the actual difference between your various offerings:

- BitDefender for Windows 8

- BitDefender Total Security 2013

- BitDefender Family Pack

Me and my girlfriend got a total of four systems, two desktops running Windows 8 and two MacBook Pro 15" Retina running OS X, as well as a dedicated server running Windows Server 2012 (not as important). First and foremost we want protection for our two Windows 8 systems as those are most fragile but I have seriously no clue what's the difference between this special "BitDefender for Windows 8" and the regular "BitDefender Total Security" package.

And considering you've got a BitDefender Family Pack at the same price as BitDefender Total Security 2013 covering "up to three family members" does that mean I could install it on both Windows 8 and both OS X systems as we are only two family members or is "up to three family members" just a more fancy way of saying "covering up to three computers"?

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LOM

Hi!

I was recently thinking about changing antivirus software as well and I came about a similar question: what is the difference between Bitdefender Windows 8 Security and Total Security 2013? Moreover, why is Windows 8 Security not available as a product on the Swiss version of the site?

Best regards,

Anton

Georgia

Hello,

@Anton: The key addition to Bitdefender Windows 8 Security is support for Microsoft's new Early Launch Anti-malware (ELAM) feature, which means that the program is launched before other boot drivers and can vet them for safety. The other features are similar to Bitdefender Internet Security 2013. For a comparison between this program and Bitdefender Total Security 2013 please access this link:

http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/antiv...comparison.html

Bitdefender Windows 8 Security is not available on the Swiss website because this product is translated only in English and French. Since the Swiss website also features a German version -besides the French one- it wouldn't be right for our Switzerland customers who speak German to have a product in a language they don't understand.

Please feel free to contact us with additional questions or concerns!

@ RamGuy: To understand the differences between Bitdefender Windows 8 Security vs Bitdefender Total Security 2013 please read the answer provided above, to Anton.

As for Bitdefender Family Pack, the license key is valid for up to 3 or 5 family members (it means 3 or 5 e-mail accounts). Each account can protect an unlimited number of devices (PC, Mac, Android).

Please post back if you have other questions, thanks!

MrArtist

I too am thinking of jumping ship to your product. At first I thought it would be the Family Pack, but then I saw the Sphere pack and cannot fathom the real difference. You say the Family pack is for 3 or 5 users (email accounts), but that hardly helps describe the limitations of usage allowed - users or email accounts? I don't think I know of anyone that has just one email account, even my kids (11 & 13 years old) have three each including one for their schools.

So how does this all work? My family is four of us and we all have multiple email accounts and our email is collected by various means, Thunderbird (Win), Mail (Mac), Office 365, through a web browser (e.g. gmail), on phones, tablets, etc. Are you saying that the 5 user Family Pack would not be suitable because it can only handle 5 email accounts? If so, shouldn't the pack be called "3 or 5 Email Accounts Pack" rather than "Family".

So that leaves the "Sphere" pack, which states 3 users only and is a higher price than that currently offered for the Family Pack (40% off via the UK website). Unlike your reply to someone else's question about the differences between Family and Sphere on April 3rd, there is no monthly option available on the UK site for either pack, just one, two or three year options for 3 or 5 users for the Family pack and only a 3 user yearly deal for the Sphere. - So, ideally as we are an average family of 4 (two adults, two kids) with a variety of Windows and Mac PCs around the house, along with various Android phones and tablets, then your 5 user Family Pack would seem to make sense except it doesn't with the email account limitation?!

I am also at a loss to really see the difference or benefit in the two offerings, Sphere or Family. If I look at the "System Requirements" of each, (and this is about the only information you do give on these two packs), then it shows no difference. Confusingly that information states for PC (by which we assume you mean Windows - Macs are PCs too!), that Bitdefender Supports/Integrates with the Web Browsers: Firefox, Thunderbird and Outlook, and for Email Clients: Outlook Express and Windows Mail on x86, and .Net framework !!!! So that's not really making sense to me! Does this mean Bitdefender won't work with Thunderbird as my email client on a Windows PC? Does it mean any browser apart from Firefox won't benefit from Bitdefender protection? Similarly IE7+ is specified as required but not mentioned as Supported/Integrated! Likewise and more importantly if I check my emails from the Mac is there no protection? Is Mac Antiphishing protection only available for Safari and Firefox? My kids use Chrome on Win and Mac, no mention of that.... So many unanswered questions in relation to your product(s) and nothing properly answered when trawling this site for information as far as I can tell?

I was contemplating the switch but now I wonder why unless you can tell me a Family Pack is really just that and that generally whichever way we use our computers/devices we will be protected. Bitdefender is not going to be much good if we can't use certain combinations of web browser, email client, computer or device or find other limitations that so far haven't been uncovered. It's beginning to seem like a list of things Bitdefender can't do might be an easier thing to describe, then at least we know what not to expect.

Not actually wishing to sound as grumpy as this has sounded, but any light you can shed on this confusion would be gratefully received.

knocks

i recommend poking around the forums a bit before making any decisions.