Setting Up The New Family Christmas Computer

There is no question that the Pytlovany family had a wonderful Christmas holiday, even though Bill reports that

Except for my new XO laptop, nobody I know received a new computer or laptop this Christmas.

Well, Bill, I know of at least three people with new laptops this Christmas and two were in my family. Our daughter has some things going on that require her to have more time on the family computer resulting in considerably less computer time for our oldest granddaughter for school work and IM'ing with friends. The youngest likes her share of computer time as well. As a result, Mom and Dad talked it over and decided to get both girls a new laptop for Christmas.

I suspect that there are other lucky families who got a new computer this Holiday, either for Christmas or during the Boxing Day sales. Windows Vista is an ideal operating system for a family, particularly families with children of differing ages.

With my granddaughters six years apart in age, the first thing I told my daughter about is the Parental Controls in Windows Vista. Copied here are links from Windows Vista Bookmarks of excellent information to help parents configure Windows Vista Parental Controls:

Parental Controls

• Family Safe Computing & Microsoft (MSDN Blog)
• How to configure Parental Controls in Windows Vista (3.5MB) (Vista4Beginners Video)
• How to view the Activity Reports (1.5MB) (Vista4Beginners Video)
  
• Internet Explorer Parental controls
• Parental Controls for Windows Vista (MSDN)
• Parent's Guide to Microsoft's Windows Vista (The Road to Know Where)
• Setting up Windows Vista Parental Controls (Bleeping Computer Tutorial)
• Use Windows Vista to help enforce limits on your children's computer use (Microsoft "Security Tips & Talk")

For parents, setting up the new computer will involve a bit of work at the beginning. The new computer needs the latest security updates installed, the Windows Firewall adjusted or a third party firewall installed. Antivirus software is needed as are user accounts for each member of the family. If the computer is to be part of a home network, see Setting Up a Home Network with Windows Vista.

There may also be additional security software to be installed as well but the most important action by parents is to establish the rules of the road for the children of the family. A lot of information is available at your finger tips to help you with this task. Most particularly, start with Do You Know Where Your Child Is? For additional helpful information, follow this link to other articles on Child Safety.

Microsoft has provided the Microsoft Holiday Support Center which provides self-help content related to Microsoft consumer products and technologies.

A computer is a wonderful source of knowledge and entertainment, but remember to "Keep Everything Clear of the Doors".

Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...