Deep Fritz Vs Shredder 9

I've just received a larger than expected yearly bonus😀 Having recently started here, I've found my old chess obsession returning and so, it has to be about time that I upgraded my software (currently ChessMaster 7000 - I know, I know!😳)

Reading about the various products, I have questions which I'm hoping some of you will be able to help me with......

From what I can tell, to take full advantage of Deep Fritz, it's better to have multi processing capabilities?
Is this the "only" difference between Deep Fritz and Fritz? (apart from the price of course)
Apart from this, it appears that Shredder 9 is stronger than either of these and has equal if not better analysis capabilities. Am I right in these assumptions (as it's cheaper than Deep Fritz)?

Lastly, are there any other viable pieces of software that do not come from ChessBase? (or even any that do!)

Usage is mainly for analysis with the odd game (when travelling)

Strength is about the same, Shredder is probably a little bit stronger (but not significantly). Deep Fritz 8 is stronger than Fritz 8 (the publishers often refer to it as Fritz 8.5). But Deep Shredder 9 is not stronger than Shredder 9 (except if you have 2 or more processors). Shredder plays a bit more defensively, and is very materialistic, but will attack if necessary. It is probably the most solid of the two. Fritz is a bit more speculative, but still very materialistic. It prefers aggressive positions above defensive positions (unlike Shredder). I think it's the most interesting of the two.

Hope that helps!

There is no deep shredder because the normal shredder is multi-processor capable.

Thanks for the info but I think you're mistaken - there seem to be 2 seperate Shredder versions available - single and multi processor. The multi-processor version isn't called "Deep" though so I guess it's the same program just 'multi-processored' (for want of a better word!).

You're both wrong, there ARE two versions of Shredder 9 (you seem to mistake it for Shredder 8) and it IS called Deep: http://www.chessbase.com/shop/index.asp?cat=Chess+Programs

Get junior! reading the article on chessbase i wish i had junior instead of deep fritz 8... its more daring and likes sacrificing for big attacks... They said if u play the 2 vs each other u'll see how different they are..