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2 stars
Version: BitDefender Internet Security 2009
"Quality drops at each release. Now unusable (BDAV2009)"
Pros: Silent and efficient.... when it works
Cons: v2009 stalls and requires full and deep reinstall every few DAYS. Unusable. Fortunately BD sent me a License key for v2008, that is still palatable.
Summary: I used BitDefender on a couple PCs concurrently from version "8" (~2002). BDv9 was as well was sans problem.
BDISv10 was IMO the one that started the decline. It was better (in price or efficiency) than all others I was using (AntiVir, Avast, F-Secure 2005 and 2006, Trend Micro 2005). It started to have a few little glitches (BD antispam crashed Outlook, BD prevented printing), but BD timely sent me some relevant fixes, and integrated others in the automatic updates.
BDIS2008 brought a totally new interface, wrapping a few superfluous cosmetic changes, but bringing none of the badly needed fixes or improvements, and even reinstating a row of old bugs that so far had been fixed with big work from BD *and from users (as me)*, and hiding a row of other downgrades. For instance, the log files have ceased in v2008 to be reliable and are of little use. Of course these changes discouraged me (and probably a number others) to contribute any more to fixes or improvements.
Due to this, when my license came to end, I stayed with BD (by far the cheapest), but I refused to update it as BDIS (BD Internet Security), and downgraded to BDAV (BD AntiVirus), thinking: less "BitBlocker", less problems. Which unfortunately proved later to be even more accurate than I had feared.
BDAV2009 (BitDefender 2009) accelerated the downgrade. It can't work more than a few days before stalling ("Real Time Protection Not responding" and/or "Update Service Unavailable"), which requires full deep uninstall+reinstall (implying 3 or 4 reboots): unusable. In addition it refuses to install on a Windows 2000 PC (I currently use a Feb 2006 laptop with Win XP Pro and a 2003 self-built desktop with Windows 2000). Fortunately BD kindly sent me a License Key for BDAV2008 that does work (it does stall sometimes but only every few months, not a problem, and inbetween it works quite well, now that most of its bugs have been finally fixed).
Don't use their Betas: this is pure gimmick, they don't even *try* to read users' input or to fix or improve the program.
When my current 3-PC license comes to end, I will return to one of my (numerous) good experiences (see above), after checking Windows 2000 compatibility, licensing, price, efficiency (e.g. silent automatic updates), and possibly trying a trial version.
Versailles, Wed 02 Sep 2009 17:53:50 +0200
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