Fritz or Chessmaster?

rybka is the stongest enginge and it comes with a 3.5 million database. It doesn't have any pure training tools though, so i you want lessons you'll have to get them from another company

Looking at ratings for the purpose is a red herring. For me, my chess.com online rating is pretty similar to my OTB rating. For others it may be wildly different. They're really hard to compare, because OTB chess and online chess here are completely different beasts.

How many chess books etc have you read so far? If you've not read so many, then most of chessmaster's training material will probably be new for you.

Both engines will easily be strong enough to beat you.

Your best bet is to get Rybka. It's free and super-powerful, though it doesn't have the glitz and glamour and extras of Chessmaster. Still, get it.

Is Rybka free or not? There seems to be some confusion about it...?

I have Chessmaster GM edition and would recommend it to anyone not at a very high level for the Josh Waitzkin tutorials alone - they are fantastic.

The latest Rybka is not free. An older version, 2.3.2, is free. I think they intend it as a sort of demo, but it is already very strong.

Chessmaster review: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/786899/chessmaster_10th_edition_product_review.html?cat=19

Fritz article: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1364425/fritz_chess_playing_program_a_grandmaster.html?cat=19

Both are *wonderful* programs.  I personally prefer Fritz for the aforementioned ease of use, the plethora of engines that can be plugged in, and the video lectures that Chessbase puts out - priceless as far as I'm concerned.  :)

The Fritz/Rybka/Chessbase family is an investment that stays with you no matter how far you want to grow. In my opinion ChessMaster is really just a set of good instructional videos, nothing more. It's hard to argue around that, given what the competition has to offer.

I guess I am not particularly computer savvy, but I find using Fritz with Chessbase to store and analyse my games difficult and confusing. Am I right in thinking Rybka is just an engine - ie. I would have to use it with the Chessbase interface anyway?

I believe it has its own interface now, but can easily be used with Chessbase products - in fact I would.  Once you get the hang of a few tricks in Fritz, it is fast and simple to traverse your way around in there!  :)

Chess.com typically overrates people in Online Chess by 300 or so points.

I'd recommend ChessMaster for beginners. Fritz is generally for more advanced players. CM has enough playing levels and instructional materials to keep you busy and improving for a long time.

Having said that, I use CM, Fritz, ChessBase and Rybka and like them all, for different reasons.