You can use ANY ESS license on ANY ESS version. Same with any antivirus, if you have a license for Kaspersky Internet Security 2009, it will work for 2013. Licenses are universal, as long as you are using it on the same product family.
How could you use a license for a 2009 product on a 2013 product it would have expired. You normally need to renew every year.
Here's a scenario: Kaspersky Internet Security License selling online on their site for $69.99 USD (just an example) The user does not want to spend that much on a security solution, he fishes around on eBay and finds an old KIS 2009 Boxed version for much less (around $20 USD let's say) which he purchases (its license has never been usd / activated) He then installs KIS 2013, and uses that license, it will work Another example is if one buys 2 or 3 years license. Now don't quote me on the years I entered, just stating that the concept works
For me the answer is the combination of things you use. Some programs do not work together, and this only you learn from trial and error. I have no real preference as you can have good combinations and they could be free.
Believe it or not, I own a 3 Year / 3 User ESET Smart Security License and a 2 Year / 1 user Bitdefender Internet Security License and guess what I am using? avast! free Antivirus! Why? Eset Smart Security = Eset has lost its old status as the leading antivirus engine not missing any viruses in the wild. I feel less secure while using Eset's products now as all they focus now on is the advertising and marketing with their Eset Robot not actually having the same light and effective product they once had (NOD32 v2) Bitdefender Internet Seucrity = Everytime I give it a change, thinking maybe they will iron the bugs out, but they never do. The moment I install that AV my notebook starts behaving weird randomly, like while watching movies, MPC-HC would just freeze, internet browsing on sites becomes slower, etc. Even though it has one of the best scanning engines, I cant live with that. I found avast! free antivirus to suite my needs, it has the best of both worlds, not very heavy on system resources yet very good scanning engine, auto sandbox feature for those fishy files, and its FREE!
I looked into upgrading to SS5 last March when my SS4 license was about to expire but I got a little concerned after reading some reviews about problems upgrading, things happening, etc. I know reviews are diverse but I thought I'd stay with SS4 for a few months to allow any SS5 bugs (if any) to get addressed. Thanks all, for the info here. From what I see, it's trial & error as "MSR" suggested and there are a lot of different takes on this topic. For example, I have a friend that's been using McAfee for years without any issues (no Trojian's, etc) and he's a multi-daily 'net user. He's using Firefox though, and that may explain his good track record for no "hits" on his PC. I have another friend that's been using Norton for years with the same results. I selected ESET back in '10 due to a recommendation. I'd never heard of it before then but was impressed with its system-recource rating. It's not been awful, but I'd like to see a better blocking track record than I've seen with my ESET experience this past 2 years so I'll be trying another product soon. Yes, that appeared the way it looked to me back in March when I renwed SS4. I've heard of "Avast" and I used to know a guy that had been using that for a while. He had good results with it. (ESET compatibility issues with Malwarebytes): So far, I've been ok with my IE9 brower, when Malwarebytes (pro) is updating. My IE9 stays online and hasn't (so far) stopped working momentarily.
You r wrong. Microsoft Forefront Perfectly Works with Windows Server Editions! I've used myself in some workplace and seen used by many in other places too.
ESET file security is not as good as Forefront. In most IT companies and Multinational Business Centers, they use Forefront/Symantec. Microsoft gives more support for Forefront customers than others do. There are 3-4 types in forefront. Check in here: technet(dot)microsoft(dot)com/en-us/library/ff630950(dot)aspx
used almost all the av's and imho i think its bit defender their latest version is quite awesome quite heavy though it is nice