In Windows 8 Microsoft hasn’t neglected the parents and their desire for a safer computing experience for their kids. No, you can still set those parental controls and you can still exercise a measure of control over what those kids are doing when they run off with your tablet.
Speaking of which – do your kids always seem to sneak off with your ASUS gadgets? I spend two days hunting for my Nexus 7 until I found my daughter happily using it as an eReader, curled up in an armchair beside her bed. The same seems to apply to my Transformer which she has managed to unlock all by herself, just by watching me…
So, in Windows 8 you still have the chance to keep your kids safe with Family Safety, as it is now called. You can set it up to send you activity reports, to set the web to specific filtering levels, monitor and restrict the various apps they are allowed to use, and set time limits on their computer usage.
To start with you will have to set yourself a password and head on over to the Family Safety website to log in and get everyone set up. If you happen to have been a member of the site before, then you will see all of your old settings still in place – very useful indeed.
Starting out with adding new children to the account is as simple as going to Add a user and following the onscreen instructions, just make sure that you select the box that asks you if this is a child’s account before you leave. You will now be automatically taken to the Family Safety setup section where you can configure the account in the Control Panel, or you can do this online, whichever suits you.
Now that you are inside the user’s profile you can adjust their settings for games, the Windows store, time limits on their computer usage and plenty more. These adjustments are fairly self explanatory so you shouldn’t find them too difficult to implement. If you do get stuck, just ask.
While you are setting your accounts up you can also ask the Family Safety feature to inform you of your child’s activities in three ways – via email, via the website or via your Windows 8 PC. I prefer the emails as they’re easy to read and it is one less thing for me to remember.
Mrs Mario
Mrs.Mario is a freelance journalist who loves to write about anything and everything. She accidentally fell into the cauldron of technology about eight years ago and has been slowly simmering in there ever since. She’s a geek but still has tons to learn about the wonderful world of technology. She also suffers from a rare disease known as “need to game” that demands it’s sufferers play at least one videogame a week. So far, she’s been coping with her ailment admirably.